Rocky's Confessions
by Wolf Pause
Summary: After Chase discovered something odd about Rocky and the way he responds his questions, Rocky is stuck telling his past life before he became a PAW Patrol member.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everybody! I'm extremely new to this place and finally built up the confidence to post a story I have thought up of. Seeing I hate grammar mistakes I find in other posts, I highly recommend telling me of any mistakes I have written for it distracts the reader from the main topic. I also highly encourage comments and reviews because I am new and my first time ever writing down a story, so please tell me where I can improve. Now time to dive into the first chapter.**

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It was a nice and beautiful day in Adventure Bay. The pups were out and about, scurrying around the lookout. There hasn't been a rescue needed in a few days and the pups decided to take a break and play. One of these hobbies they took in was running. Every pup participated in races just to see who was fastest.

"Of course I'm going to be the fastest out of everyone," Chase exclaimed, nose held high.

"In your dreams Chase!" Marshall replied, "Of course I'm gonna win."

"Well, let's start the race already guys and stop trash talking," Rubble said with a bit of annoyance.

"On your marks, get set, go!" Rubble counted and the pups took off.

Chase was in the lead, but marshall was not too far behind him, Rocky right behind Marshall, then Skye, Zuma and Rubble. Close to the finish line, Chase and Marshall were neck to neck, one overcoming the other. At the end, Marshall accidentally tripped and tumbled into Chase right into the finish line.

"Well I guess we won't find out who's faster today!" Rocky exclaimed.

"Well, there's still later this evening or tomorrow," Chase panted between breaths. "Say, Rocky, why aren't you tired like everyone else?"

Everyone was confused at Chase's question, but soon realized that everyone was worn out and panting except for Rocky.

"Uh, I have a high endurance?" Rocky defended, slowly backing away from the group.

"Yea right, and Marshall loves to fly. What's actually going on here? Not even a professional runner would be fine with a race like that." Chase argued.

"Nothing, I guess I wasn't trying hard enough." Rocky defended again.

At this point Chase and the other pups were getting suspicious of Rocky except for Zuma who look more worried. Every pup was getting closer to Rocky and Rocky backing away even more. Just at this point, Ryder called the pups to call it a day and go to bed. Rocky was relieved and rushed straight to his pup house and shut the door. Everyone else also walked back to their respective house and fell asleep.

The very next day, everyone dropped the Rocky topic except for Chase and went straight to having another race in the morning. Rubble counted down again and the pups were off. This time, however, Chase was hanging back, sticking close to Rocky, not close enough where Rocky would see, but close enough to observe him. At the end of the race, Marshall had won and started to boast in front of Chase.

"I told you I was the better and faster runner!" Marshall boasted between breaths.

"Yea, whatever. Hey Rocky, I have a question for you." Chase spoke also panting hard.

"Yea, what's up Chase?" Rocky asked, trying to fake panting like the other pups, but was really obvious he was faking it, "Do you need something?"

"Yes, could you tell me what sound I heard from you when I ran next to you? It sounded like a compression from a machine in your truck." Chase asked.

Rocky froze on the spot right after he asked.

"What sound? I have no idea what you're talking about, heh." Rocky said shyly.

"Oh don't try to play innocent with me Rocky, I know you have something going on here and you might as well spill it now." Chase growled.

At this point everyone was interested, and all eyes were focused at Rocky. Rocky slowly backed away, completely forgot about his fake panting, and started to run off. Chase chased Rocky all the way across the driveway until Rocky dove into his pup house and closed the door. Chase, having too much momentum, slammed right into the door, leaving a sizable dent in it.

"You better come out here and explain yourself, running away just proves you are hiding something!" Chase exclaimed as he banged on the steel door.

No reply came from Rocky, instead, a muffled crying noise was heard from the inside of the recycling pup's truck. Chase, after hearing this, slowly backed away, and left Rocky crying in his truck.

After Chase left, Zuma came up to the door and asked Rocky to let him in and talk about it. Rocky hesitated, but ended up letting Zuma in.

"What's wong dude? I've nevew seen ow heawd you cwy befowe," Zuma asked in a gentle tone.

"It's just, Chase getting all up in my past, that's all. It's every sensitive. You would know." Rocky replied in between sniffles.

"Well why don't you just tell evewyone youw past? It could help you cope and welieve stwess." Zuma suggested.

"I don't know Zuma, I don't know if I want to relive my past again. I don't know if I could bear it." Rocky murmured.

After a bit of coaxing, Zuma walked out of Rocky's truck, only to find all the members outside worried about Rocky. Right behind Zuma was Rocky, red eyed and still slightly sniffling, sat down and started to speak.

"Chase? You were right, that noise you heard, it was coming from me. I guess it's about time I told you about my past, but be warned, it's a long and painful one" Rocky stated.

Everyone started to talk amongst themselves and sat down to hear what Rocky had to say.

"Well, here goes nothing" Rocky sighed.

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 **Welp, It's the end of the Chapter, please give a thoughtful response on how I can improve as a writer, and if it wasn't pleasing, please explain why it wasn't. I plan on adding some OC's, but that would be way down the line if this story got that far. I also plan on writing more, as this was just to see if anyone would care to read this. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**So this is where Rocky dives into his history, and believe me, it is very dark. Not as dark as some other stories I have read, but still dark nonetheless. I appreciate the help so far, and will try to implement them here in attempt number two. Most likely I won't post very frequently, and this is just to get out any ideas I have currently and since the first part doesn't get into the story very much. Anyways, here is Chapter 2!**

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Everything around me was gray, the walls were gray, the bars were gray, heck, even I was gray. The only things that wasn't gray was the other pups eyes, and they were extremely sad. I hadn't gotten to know them, nor did they try to know me because we all knew our fates the moment we were put into these cages. I was named subject 03, no proper name given.

Right as Rocky was born, he was taken away from his mom and dad before he could open my eyes, never got to know who they were. Many of the scientists there said that they died from some natural cause, but Rocky didn't believe them, he never believed any of them. How could he?

Everyday, These researchers would come in and take pups out. Sometimes they would return, other times they wouldn't. On the rare occasion they did return, the pups always kept to themselves, never questioned what was beyond. The place they were held was most commonly known as the kennel room. This was a closet sized room with 5 kennels inside, each holding 1 dog with a total of 5. Each dog was labeled with a subject number. Kennel one was held a gray pup, 2 had a German Shepard, 3 was Rocky, 4 held a Dachshund, and 5 was a Terrier. Each wall had relatively 539 bricks per wall Rocky counted and there was one light hanging down in the middle of the room. Other than these qualities, it was baron like the desert, more even because at least deserts have cacti. Despite there being 5 dogs in the room, no one barked or talked. They were given slop to eat, usually leftovers from whatever the scientists had left or was expired. Some days they would give the dogs a bone or a few pieces of meat, other days they wouldn't even feed them, leaving them hungry.

One time, Rocky ended up getting curious about the outside, and tried to start a conversation with the gray pup like him that was just put back into a cage after taken out of the room.

"Hey uh, how are you doing?" Rocky asked unconfidently.

The other pup didn't answer and pretended to sleep to avoid answering Rocky's question. Rocky tried to push him a bit harder.

"So um, how was it out there, bright? Dim? Was it anything like the outdoors, or was it just like a cage?" Rocky persisted.

"It was fine," the other pup growled, "Now why don't you keep out of other people's business and shut up like everyone else here, nobody likes a talker, especially one that is as young as you."

Rocky held his tongue after he said that, but after a while, got restless and spoke again.

"So do you have a name, like a actual proper name?" Rocky questioned.

"No, I don't have a name, just like everyone else here dummy. Now buzz off and go to sleep you stupid puppy." the other pup retaliated.

"You seem old, did you have a life-" Rocky started but was cut off.

"Would you shut up?! If I could go over there, I would muzzle you, then kill you right on the spot just to stop your yammering. Like I said before, no one like a talker, and nobody cares, we all are going to die, so just deal with it, don't make friends, don't strike up conversations, and don't care." the other pup growled.

Rocky, after hearing the other pup's response, decided to shut up for the day, plus, he finally gotten to use his voice so he was satisfied. A few minutes later, a scientist came to the kennel room to take another dog out. This time was the pup right next to Rocky, a German Shepard, Subject 02.

Right after he left, I hoped he would be back, partially so I could ask him as well about the outside, but this time after waiting hours and hours, the German Shepard never came back, and Rocky assumed that he was dead. He was the first one to go, and Rocky hoped that it was a quick and painless death, and that he would have a better life in the afterlife if it existed.

This cycle repeated for a few weeks, scientists walking in and taking dogs out and putting them back, none of them spoke about what happened outside, and eventually, Rocky was the one taken out of the room. Rocky tried to struggle and kicked and nipped at the scientist, which only earned him a muzzle around his mouth and bound paws, and was carted off to somewhere inside the facility. Rocky looked around the hallway, seeing only more gray, and a few signs on the room doors, one of which caught his attention that said Suffocation room. They turned Rocky into a room that was labeled examination, which Rocky didn't understand what it meant, and was placed on a table with a light shining of him. Rocky looked around and took in what he saw. Around him were dark gray walls, and a lot more scientists in full gray. It was just like the cell, just more open. Next to him were pencils, pens, erasers, basic office supplies. Above him was a movable light, one that shone right on him. Rocky found this to be interesting on how the light moved, and decided if he got back, he would think about how it worked.

The scientists bound Rocky to the table and started to poke at Rocky, and Rocky tried to retaliate, but because of the restrictions on him, he couldn't. After a while, Rocky gave up and started to whimper loudly. The scientists most definitely heard, but didn't care about it. They examined Rocky from head to toe, noting down descriptions about Rocky, poking Rocky in every inch of fur he had, opening his mouth to check his teeth and tongue, then finally putting back onto a cart and carted him off back to the kennel room.

Once he was put back into his kennel and the scientists left, he started to cry. Rocky had never cried before, but he felt violated, and even though he didn't die, he would rather die than to endure that torment again. The other pup that rejected him saw Rocky in a broken down state and started to talk.

"Look, I'm sorry I acted up the way I did last time. I just didn't want you to know what happened out there. It wasn't a good story to tell a barely one year old pup. Let's start over, hello, my name is Subject 01." The gray pup started.

"Hi, my name is Subject 03" Rocky started as well, " I can see why you never told me about it, it wasn't the most pleasant experience." Rocky said between sniffles.

"You finally got to go out, was it anything like you hoped it was?" 01 asked.

"It was terrible, I hope I never have to endure that again." Rocky replied. At this point, Rocky had stopped crying, but was still slightly sniffling. "So, tell me, what's the outside like?"

After that day, Rocky and 01 started to talk more and more, discussing past events and creating theories about what would happen after death. Occasionally they laughed, sometimes so hard that the scientists came in to check what was going on. Rocky and 01 could tell the other dogs were listening, but they didn't care, they discussed whatever came to mind, sometimes about the scientists, other times it was about the outside. They loved to tell stories of the outside world, considering Rocky had never been outside, and the descriptions 01 told him made the outside world seem like heaven. It gave Rocky hope and what to look for in the future and it motivated him to stay alive. Then one day, scientists took 01 away, and he never returned. Rocky finally knew why it wasn't a good idea to make friends there, it hurt, hurt more than anything else, to see his friend get taken away and presumably killed, never got to say goodbye. At one point when Rocky thought it was night, howled for the death of his newly made friend and the other dogs joined him. Eventually the scientists got annoyed and muzzled all the dogs, and resumed their research. Guess it wasn't night after all.

Soon, Rocky started to notice all the pups around him were diminishing, slowly taken away and killed off. Rocky never knew why the scientists killed them off, they never did anything bad, nor were they misfits of the world. First the German Shepard, then 01, next the Terrier, and finally the Dachshund. Eventually Rocky was the only pup left in the room. It was completely quiet and not a sound was made. Rocky would just lay there, repeating what 01 said about the world, about the conversations they had, and one in a while cried a bit that he was actually gone. After being in the kennel room for a few days it seemed, Rocky could hear the scientist discussing what they would do, considering all their trials were failures and that how this time it would be different. It sounded a lot like bickering, one screaming over the other, and one scientist suggested that they ditch the experiment and let Rocky go. Rocky felt a twinge of relieve when he heard that.

Eventually the scientists came into the doorway, opened the kennel Rocky was in, grabbed him by the scruff, and took him away. Rocky hoped that he was going to be taken to an animal shelter where he could be adopted and cared for in a family, but part of him felt that he was going to his death, though he prayed that he would live to see another day.

They took him to the same room, started to poke at him, this time less pokes than the last, and carted him back towards the kennel room. Rocky have a sigh of relief, but soon realized that they had passed the kennel room and continued to walk straight. Right before they went into a room, Rocky saw a window next to him and took a long gaze at the outside world. It was colorful, sun in the blue sky, red and yellow flowers up against the window, but mostly Rocky saw the green trees and grass. He realized that the outside was exactly what 01 described it to be, and so much more. 01 never said anything about color, and the greenery outside looked mesmerizing to Rocky. Once the scientists turned Rocky into the room, Rocky again started to observe his surroundings. This room was nothing like the kennel room, it had a high ceiling, a glass box, some tubing connected to the box, and many, many chairs around the box with a lever next to one.

Rocky couldn't figure out what the box was for, thinking that it was a giant fish tank to watch fishies swim around, but soon realized that he himself was put in there. Rocky watched in horror as the scientists locked the box, and sit down to watch him suffer. Rocky thought of all the possible ways he would die here, suffocation, poison gas, and realized that the torment had started. He looked in terror as the scientists watched him struggle. Water was flowing in from the pipes attached above. They were going to drown him.

Rocky flailed around desperately to find a way out, he pushed up on the glass, tried pounding the walls, tried digging out the floor, but his attempts were all futile, and Rocky ran out of energy quickly. The water slowly rose as Rocky watched it. Soon the water rose above his head. Rocky thought about swimming up, but he figured the glass roof kept him from swimming too high and he was out of energy to even try. Rocky looked panicked, and the researchers outside were laughing at him trying to get out. Rocky thought to himself if he ever got out of the tank alive, he would never trust a single human again, he would run away and live out in the wild like wolves. Rocky hoped that the water would soon drain, but it never did, he would never get to see the outside 01 had described, never get a loving family (not that he cared anymore at this point), never get to live a full and happy life out in the lush green grass. Soon Rocky couldn't hold his breath any longer and let go. He gave a last thought about the outside world, the beautiful colors he saw, and took a big deep gulp of water in, and just like that, Rocky drowned.

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 **This Chapter was slightly dark, I know, but it leads up to a lot. It sets up what happens after, so this is all planned out. It would also explain why he hates water so much. Anyways, like before, please leave suggestions on how I can improve and if there is any spelling or grammar issues, in the meantime, thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, Haven't we gotten into a pickle, time for chapter 3.**

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Every pup gasped once Rocky gotten to this part. Chase's jaw dropped to the ground, Marshall had a scared look in his eyes, Skye was leaning into Chases shoulder crying, and Rubble fainted on the spot, the only pup who looked fine was Zuma. Zuma stared at Rocky with a hurtful, yet relieved gaze, as if he was hiding something as well. The other pups did not catch onto this however, and continued bawling their eyes out.

"So would that make you a ghost?!" Marshall exclaimed, sniffing Rocky all over, and touching Rocky's fur to see if it would pass right through.

At this point Rocky had cried a little from his horrifying past, but his face was mostly filled with grief and sorrow. He looked at Zuma, nodded, and then continued with his story.

"I haven't finished my story yet, there is still lots to it." Rocky answered.

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Rocky suddenly jolted awake, eyes flying open, breathing heavily, heart pounding, coughing hard. He looked around frantically to see what had just happened. All he remembered was that he just drowned in water. Rocky tried to get up, but soon realized that there were iron chains that held him down tightly. Next to him, he saw the scientists dressed in aprons like uniforms cheering and high fiving each other with blood caked gloves.

Rocky was extremely confused, and suddenly realized that he couldn't feel his forelegs or his back legs, yet they still seemed to move whenever he wanted. It almost seemed like he was controlling another pair of limbs with his mind. Rocky hoped that it was just anesthetics, but even with anesthetics he still couldn't move his legs. Something was horribly wrong with him.

A scientist walked over to him and said "Congratulations, you have just cheated death" The scientist told Rocky, "You are the only successful fella in Project Reincarnation."

Rocky took sometime to think about what he just said. Cheated death? Is that even possible? This had to be a dream, just a really bad dream, but everything just seemed so real. Suddenly the experiments just made sense. All the pups, all the deaths, they were failed experiments, none of the other pups survived. Rocky had been reincarnated from death, pulled back from the dead somehow. The room that was label Suffocation, one of the pups in the kennel room was suffocated to death in there, and wasn't able to be pulled back from the dead like Rocky was. Rocky shivered at the thought of who might have been suffocated. In the mean time, Rocky wanted answers about his current situation.

"H-How did y-you do it?" Rocky stuttered, still feeling nothing in his limbs and paws.

"Well it was simple, really. We had to jump start your heart, as well as give your heart an extra boost. We attached a machine around your heart, which helps regulate your heart and we also added some physical ability enhancers in your legs as well, just to see if it would work. Seems like it was a success!" the scientist replied.

"W-what do you mean 'ability enhancers'?" Rocky questioned, "Does it have to do with why I can't feel my legs?"

"Hm, it could be one of the side effects. You see, we used a metal called living metal. It apparently has a unique property that it will grow with the body of an animal or human if it replaced a part in the body, like a bone or organs. We figured that it if could help the body and grow with it, it could also support a dying or freshly killed animal by regulating the heart from the stress right as they were dying. Project Reincarnation was the name of the experiment, and it turns out it was success." the scientist explained as he smiled.

"But you never explained why I can't feel my legs anymore, it is anesthetics that's causing it?" Rocky asked.

"Oh, about that, we had to cut away the nerves around the bone because the living metal actually replaces the bone, and once in a body, will grow with the body. Don't worry, losing feeling in your limbs isn't so bad, it's more durable than bone and can automatically heal whenever it gets dented." the researcher replied happily.

Rocky thought about it, no feeling in my legs for life? I guess it couldn't be too bad. At least I'm still alive, at least i can live to see another day. Rocky was then released from the chains that bound him to the table and was put down onto the cold hard ground. Rocky almost immediately fell over. It felt weird not being able to feel the ground, it felt like he was just a floating mass that just hovered above the ground. One of the scientists helped Rocky get back up to his feet, bracing Rocky as he took his first step with his new legs. Rocky thought it would be hard, but it turns out it was barely different from walking before, just different in the sense of feeling. It felt like he was controlling a car with his mind, whenever he though of moving forward, it moved forward, but it wasn't as easy as he initially thought, and still needed to adapt to it.

Still Rocky couldn't bear the fact that he couldn't feel anything with his paws anymore. He couldn't tell if something was smooth, rough, pokey, wavy by feel, none of that. Then he realized that he would never be able to feel the lush green grass run through his paws any longer, feel the wind pass his paws, feel the trees as he climbed them, nor could he feel the fur of his future mate He could never feel the freeness of running, the thrill of running. Just the thought of this made Rocky tear up. Rocky started to bawl right in front of the scientists.

"What's wrong Rocky? Happy that you made it and now can live a privileged life?" the scientist asked.

"N-no, I-I wanted t-to feel th-the thrill o-of r-running outdoors a-at least o-once. It's going to be s-so hard that I w-won't be a-able to feel a-again" Rocky cried.

"Well, I'm sorry about that Rocky, you could have told us before. Anyways, it seems that some therapy needs to happen for you to get back on your feet and start adapting to your new limbs. You also need to freshen up before you leave" the researcher replied, completely dropping the subject.

The scientists grabbed Rocky and hauled him into a bathtub where they planned to scrub Rocky to clean him, but because of Rocky's traumatic experience, his body and mind started to go into full panic as soon as the soapy water touched his fur. Rocky started to flail about, eyes wide, heart beating rapidly, attempting to jump out of the tub, but his new legs wouldn't let him. Rocky lost all instinct of swimming and the sheer panic was enough for Rocky to faint.

As soon as Rocky woke up, the scientists had already freshened up Rocky. Rocky now had a clean coat of fur, all shiny and lustrous. Apparently the scientists had washed Rocky while he was fainted, thanking him that he fainter because it was much easier when he was unconscious than trying to clean him while he gave himself a panic attack.

After Rocky's second traumatic experience, Rocky was then carried off and put into another cell, but this time, it seemed more like a mini house than a cage cell. Instead of a barred door, it was more of a wooden door with more locks. The walls were no longer gray, but green and a pale yellow. On the wall there was a giant floor mirror that Rocky could gaze into. There was a mini water dispenser that refilled a water bowl and a treat dispenser for whenever Rocky got hungry or thirsty. The floor was covered in the best granite Rocky had ever seen, polished and shined to perfection. The ceiling was a pure, smooth looking white that looked like glass. The best improvement, however, was the doggy bed in the corner. To Rocky, he had always slept on the cold floor of the cage and was never treated to anything as soft and comfy as a puppy bed. There were many windows around with views to the outside that Rocky had long hoped for. It was all that Rocky wanted.

Rocky was overjoyed with the new improvements to his housing, almost completely forgetting about his situation, and was notified that he was to be picked up at 12 in the afternoon for physical therapy until he could walk on his own. In the meantime, Rocky was given a stroller that supported his body from the bottom and would be using it also to help him train. The stroller was also green and had padding all along the holding area, giving Rocky a gentle push, just like lying into a pillow. There were wheels on the bottom of each support leg helping Rocky roll right along as he walked. Right before the scientists left, they gave Rocky a doggy bone that he could chew on and toughen up his teeth.

As soon as the scientists left, Rocky went straight to the puppy treat dispenser and poured a large helping of treats of all assortments, after all, it had been a while since he ate with dying and all. Rocky's legs were another challenge. Rocky would occasionally miss a step, causing Rocky to slightly bump into the stroller legs. Rocky was glad that the stroller was there, or else navigating through his new house would have been a nightmare. Rocky was also very determined to learn how to walk again, so all day and all night he walked around his little lodge. After a few hours of tripping and failing, Rocky began to get the hang of walking with the support, he even began to run a bit. After taking a glance outside once he got the hang of walking again, he saw the moon, another mesmerizing sight to Rocky and began to stare at the moon, all bright and glorious. The light reflected off of Rocky's eyes and the glimmer of the moon made Rocky woozy. Rocky soon fell into a deep sleep, only the loud knocking on the door woke him up.

"Rocky? It's 12, time for your training" the instructor said in a comforting voice.

"Huh? Oh yea, let me get a bite first" Rocky replied.

Soon Rocky walked out the door and his instructor was surprised that he could already walk pretty well on the stroller. Rocky's instructor was a pretty lady, a bit short, but had a kind and sweet face, just like a supermodel. She wore a white uniform, not a lab coat, but a nurse's outfit. Rocky stared at her, eyes wide and jaw dropped open. Never before has he seen a human so beautiful and kind. He always thought humans were cruel and inhumane beings. The instructor began by seeing how well Rock could walk straight, from his front door to the other side of the room they were in. The instructor proceeded by removing Rocky's aid as Rocky seemed to walk just fine with it. Rocky stumbled a bit when the aid was removed, but was able to walk to the other end with few stumbles. With a few repetition, Rocky was able to walk without falling over and was also able to run a short distance. One thing Rocky noticed was his stamina never seemed to wear out. He could walk or run over and over again and he would be completely fine. The sores that would have been there Rocky would no longer feel, which Rocky considered to be a benefit. He spent the rest of the training session running around the front part of his house, yipping and playing with the instructor who had a few toys like a tug toy.

Soon training was over, and he was dismissed to go back into his pup house. Just one day of training allowed Rocky to walk without aid, and it made Rocky wonder how long it would take for him to be back to his usual life. Rocky still found it hard to sit down properly, as it was kind of wonky, his rear end always seemed to just slam down onto the hard granite floor, causing Rocky to cuss, since he could still feel pain from the legs up. In the end, he gave up trying and began gnawing on the bone he was given yesterday.

The next few days were extremely productive, and in the end, Rocky was able to walk, run, jump, duck, sit, lay down, and even use his mechanical parts to boost him through most actions such as running and jumping, giving him a faster sprint and a higher jump. Rocky was overjoyed knowing that soon he would be released outside and get adopted by a caring and loving human. The last training session was an overview of how much control Rocky had on his new body. Rocky, after an intensive obstacle course comprised of many hoops, tunnels, and balancing beams, retired to the comforts of his home and sat down to gnaw on the bone he was working on. Rocky took a glance at a blueprint the scientists gave him to improve. Ever since Rocky listened to the staff really well, the scientists saw Rocky's curious gaze at machinery lying around the lab and decided to teach Rocky a bit of mechanics. Rocky dove into that topic like a dolphin, asking about every little detail and how each part would work as a whole. Rocky spent nights studying everyday objects like clocks and fans and took them apart to study them, then put them back together. Sometimes Rocky would even improve the system, removing parts that were unnecessary to function the contraption in also increasing it's speed or proficiency. As expected, Rocky excelled at this subject, and just after a few days was better than most technicians in the lab. Rocky was also allowed to take a few spare tools and parts into his home to work on projects. Rocky decided not to work on the blueprint and continued to gnaw. As Rocky gnawed on the bone, a weird voice spoke.

"Hey Rocky, how's it going" the mysterious voice asked.

Rocky snapped his neck up, looked around and saw no one. Rocky shrugged it off and continued to gnaw on his bone.

"Do you not remember me? I was your best friend, Gray, from a long time ago?" the voice named Gray said.

"Uh, that does seem familiar, I just can't remember where. Can you come out please? Maybe if I saw you I would remember" Rocky replied.

"I'm not a physical pup, I'm in your mind, your spiritual buddy, remember?" Gray responded, slightly annoyed.

"Oh, yea, that Gray! I haven't heard you in a long while, how's life been in there?" Rocky asked joyfully. Rocky seemed to remember Gray, and had that feeling that Gray had been a part of his life for a long while, but never seemed to remember why, he had never met him, but knew he wasn't an enemy, but a friend, Just as though they knew each other in some other worldly relation that Rocky couldn't pin down with his paw.

"Rocky, I have to warn you, the place you're in is very dangerous, they all have been lying to you" Gray said in a cautious voice.

"Oh really," Rocky responded sarcastically, "Where's your proof, everyone here has treated me so well, look around, I have all that I want, a nice bed, food and a great view of the outdoors, as well as parts to satisfy my hobby"

"Rocky, most of what is going on is fake, the scientists are just manipulating you, tricking you to fall into their trap. Here, to prove I'm telling the truth, I need you to loosen the window and see what's actually outside" Gray suggested.

Rocky thought this was a stupid idea, but still did it to prove Gray wrong. He took a screwdriver to the window and unscrewed it. The window popped right out and in a flash Rocky was outside.

"See, I told you nothing-" Rocky started until he banged into a wall. "What?" Rocky questioned.

Rocky felt around and realized the "outdoors" was just a screen filming a scene outside. Now that Rocky thought about it, everything did seem like the outdoors was very repetitive, always sunny, never thundered, never rain, heck, it never even went cloudy. Rocky backed up in disbelief. The researchers were manipulating him, and jumped back into the house and reattached the window.

"But why, how could they do this, why would they do this" Rocky pondered while pacing around his "house".

Rocky started to contemplate all the other actions they did. They never did let Rocky wander around the facility without constant supervision. He was also never allowed to go outside just to play, and was also denied of knowing why the scientists did what they did. Rocky was slowly starting to believe that what Gray said was true, his life was a huge lie and they were most likely denying him more information that he deserved to know.

"What other stuff are they hiding from me?" Rocky asked after thinking about it for a good 30 minutes.

"I told you it wasn't real. Other than that, you should hear the researchers conversations. Go up into the vent above you and take the first right you see." Gray suggested.

Rocky did exactly what Gray said and started to maneuver into the vent. After climbing into the vent, he took the first right and saw right below him were three researchers. They were discussing plans about a procedure they were doing. Conveniently enough, they spoke in the area that was soundproof from inside Rocky's living quarters.

"So when are we going to harvest? It's getting a bit overdone. Soon it might overtake the lab." one of the scientist asked.

"Let's give it a little bit, give it more time in the light, it has no idea anyways" another researcher replied.

Rocky started to question the the "it" was. Rocky started to think that "it" was a out of control plant, and needed samples from a leave or fruit and killed before it overgrew and took over the lab until the third replied, "Guys, Rocky is becoming way too aware, and those parts are expensive, we need to harvest them first thing tomorrow, now that we know it works, and now that the living metal has shown growth."

Rocky listened in disbelief. They weren't going to let him go to an animal shelter, nor were they talking about an overgrown plant. They cared more about the parts and resources than about him. Rocky climbed back into the home and sealed off the vent. Rocky sat down and thought of a plan, a plan of pure genius that only he could think of, one that the scientists would never see coming. Tonight Rocky was going to breakout, and no one was going to notice, a stealthy getaway.

* * *

 **Ok, Rocky is not going crazy in this story, this is all explained in the story, just don't expect it in the next chapter, as the next chapter is about the breakout. Also, just before someone asks, it is not confession, singular, but confessions, plural. I'm pretty sure I alluded to many small details that make Rocky's past much more complex. Like always, please notify me if there are mistakes that I overlooked in editing and tell me where I can improve as a writer. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**So, before this begins, I'd like to mention the story that sparked this whole thing. I didn't copy anything from it, not that I know of anyways, but everything developed from it. That story is Rise of Decker written by League of Writers which was the first PAW Patrol fan fiction I read. and I would like to thank him for sparking the idea of this story. This will also probably be the only story in the near future, mostly because this is the only story I developed fully. Anyways, enough about this, time for chapter 4.**

* * *

Rocky had a plan, now he just needed to execute it. He needed to get out undetected by anyone, and that included the security cameras that were scattered everywhere. Because the front door was always locked unless someone came by to check in, he needed to find another way out. Gray proved to be a very helpful voice in Rocky's head, and sometimes Rocky silently questioned how he knew so much about this place. Rocky took the same vent that he went in to spy on the researchers. This time however, he kept going straight instead of right at the first turn.

Gray told Rocky that the facility that he was in was completely sealed, meaning there was no way to escape the complex via air duct. Rocky thought about that fact, deciding he needed to escape by a door or window without being detected. Rocky figured that he needed to sort out the cameras, as they were everywhere and couldn't get out without security noticing his escape. Rocky planned to take out security and alter the camera's footage to seem though the guard fell asleep on the job.

After telling Gray his plan, Gray told him that the monitor room was the third left and the fifth right, first vent down. Rocky followed Gray's directions and found himself right above the camera room. Once he got there, Rocky noticed that his heist was going to be a lot easier since the guard had already fell asleep on the job, and all Rocky had to do was to reprogram one camera's footage pointed towards the door. Rocky stealthily took a snapshot of one of the main front doors using a camera and kept it as a stagnant picture on that monitor. Rocky thought that since the monitor room would be less frequently visited, no one would be able to tell the camera's footage was altered. Rocky then proceeded by jumping back up in the vent using his newly improved limbs, which Rocky was grateful for at this point because he wouldn't be able to pull any of this off without it.

"Hey Gray, where is the exit that I saw on that monitor?" Rocky asked quietly.

"It's just down this path and on the second right" Gray responded.

Rocky followed down the tunnel and took a right. Just as that happened, a loud blaring sound played right below him, and all the lights that filtered through the grates turned a violent red. Rocky realized that he never considered what would happen if the scientists went back to the house and realized that Rocky wasn't inside. Rocky also forgot to replace the vent that he screwed off, leaving a pretty obvious place where Rocky was. Rocky cursed and knew he needed to get out of the vents, or else the scientists would send something down the vents and find Rocky. Rocky got to the first grate and looked down. Inside the room below, he saw mops, brooms and buckets, it was a janitor closet. Rocky deemed it to be safe and jumped down, this time remembered to put back the vent grate as he dropped.

Rocky hid inside a basin that was inside the room and evaluated his current situation. Rocky assumed that all the entrances were in lock down, so he couldn't walk out though the doors. Rocky needed a new plan. Rocky looked at what was in the room, desperately trying to find something he could use to escape. There were shelves stocked with cleaner and sponges, walls covered in moss, nothing there could help Rocky. Rocky started to feel defeated, that he could only accept death until suddenly the door opened. Rocky immediately ducked down into the basin. Rocky took a peak at who opened the door and saw it was his instructor, the one that helped him walk. Once Rocky recognized her, Rocky devised a plan, he was going to ask the instructor to help him. Rocky believed that out of everyone, she was the one that he trusted the most. Rocky slowly climbed out of the tub and tapped his instructor on the shoulder. The instructor shrieked and immediately covered her mouth. She saw Rocky sitting there and calmed down.

"Rocky, everyone's looking for you, how did you end up here?" his instructor asked.

"It's hard to explain, but you need to get me out of here, they want to kill me!" Rocky replied frantically.

The instructor thought about it for a while, and then responded.

"Sure, I'll help. I also want to get out of this joint. Come on" his instructor finally replied.

The instructor picked up Rocky and put him into her coat, bundled it close and started to move out of the closet. Rocky saw through the buttons of her shirt that they were moving towards the door. Security started to chat with her instructor and in order to leave, she had to be patted down so that she wasn't smuggling anything out. When the hand reached Rocky, Rocky held his breath as the hand reached him. Suddenly his instructor shrieked, saying that he shouldn't touch her there because it was wounded and didn't want him to touch her there because it would hurt too much for her to bear. The security guard apologized and let her though. The door was so close to Rocky until he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. Rocky looked down and saw a dart sticking right out. His instructor pulled him out of her jacket and looked at him with a resentful expression.

"I'm so sorry Rocky" the instructor cried as Rocky fell unconscious.

Rocky woke up groggy on a table, tied down just like after he was reincarnated. Rocky looked around and thought about what had just happened. The instructor captured him. The one person that he put trust in betrayed him. This only strengthen his hate for humans. Rocky saw the instructor talking to the scientists, laughing away, and when she saw Rocky awake on the table staring at her with a cold glare, she ran out of the room scared. Rocky wanted to tear out her heart so badly, and he didn't care that she helped him before. Rocky started to growl loudly, and soon was greeted with a heavy blow to his stomach. One of the scientist had just struck him, and it hurt Rocky so badly that a large gash was made in his belly region. Rocky tried to hold back the pain, but started to cuss at the scientists, which earned him another blow in the stomach right in the wound.

"Heh, look who it is, Rocky. Thought you could get away from us? Run away and be free like you wanted? Well let me tell you this," he said in a mischievous tone, "Nobody cares for you, and no one will accept you as one of their own. You're a misfit, you're part pup, part machine, the odd one out. Face it, even if you get out, no one would give you a second glance."

Rocky took this in and it hurt, hurt more than the gash in his stomach. He thought about it and started to give in. Maybe he was a misfit, that no one would want him in his current state, that no one would care for him because of his robotic state. Rocky decided to surrender himself to the scientists, he believed that death was the only way to end his suffering. Living would mean more pain and suffering.

"Rocky, don't give up, don't believe them. There are people in the world just like you that have good homes, good families. People care, no matter what they are or what they had become. You're a good pup, I would hate to witness you die here, you have so much potential to make great things happen. Fight back!" Gray screamed in his head.

Rocky listened and he stared at the ceiling. He thought about his friends the became his family back in the kennel room, before that even. He needed to get the word out, to reveal what these cruel people were doing. Rocky would not die here, for if Rocky died, then all hope was lost for every pup in the facility. Rocky looked up, then at the scientists, and started to growl once more. The scientist with the bat prepared another blow to his stomach, but Rocky tugged at the chains, and because of his modifications, was able to snap them in half. All the scientists stared in disbelief as their creation broke the restrictions put down as was now in a fighting stance, ready to kill every one of them. Rocky noticed that even though his belly hurt like the devil, as long as he focused on moving, he could still fight wounded.

Rocky looked at the scientists, then at the door. It would have been so satisfying watching them die, killing them with his own claws and teeth, but decided that it was against his nature to kill them, even if he believed that the human race was corrupt. Rocky made a mad dash towards the door and charged right through, breaking the door in half. Rocky felt pain in his chest area, but like the gash in his stomach, as long as he ignored it, he would be fine. Rocky looked around and saw that it was the same area that they took him to be examined. Down the hall was the room labeled suffocation, and the room after that was the kennel room. Further down from the kennel room was the window to the outside. Guards had started to surround Rocky, but that didn't stop him. Rocky ran down the hallway, dodging bullets as they flew by him, some bullets did land in him, but he didn't care. Rocky neared the window and head smashed right through it, leaving glass cuts all over his body. Rocky tumbled down the grass and finally rolling to a halt. He was finally free, there were no fake screens of nature, this was actually the real deal, but first before he could enjoy the outdoors, Rocky needed to get this organization taken down. Rocky continued to run down the fields of green grass and it pleased Rocky that his dream was now a reality, and finally saw a city. As soon as Rocky got close, he hid in the shadows. Even though he wasn't in the lab, he wouldn't come close to anyone. Rocky found where the nearest police station hesitated to knock. Even though Rocky hated humans with a passion, he was more bent on taking down the organization. Rocky built up courage and knocked on the door. The door opened with a police officer standing in the doorway.

"Who's there, Oh my gosh, it's a wounded puppy, let me call the vet" the officer said as he pulled out his phone.

"Now's not the time, you need to send an investigator to that facility just above the hill" Rocky replied.

"Why, are they the ones that did this to you? We'll send a team over there immediately" the officer responded.

The officer turned around to call to other officers, and when he turned back around to face Rocky, he was nowhere to be seen. Rocky vanished into the shadows again, disgusted, yet pleased that he talked to a person that could stop the organization. In the meantime, Rocky needed to tend to his wounds. Rocky wasn't able to bear the pain any longer and started to pull out glass and wood splinters out of his skin and fur. The bullets were dug too deep in his skin, and couldn't reach them. Rocky needed to create a machine to remove them. Rocky bled everywhere, and needed a bandage like strip to stop the bleeding, and found in the closest dumpster that there was rolls of bandages inside. He took them and wrapped it around his wounds and sat down. He reevaluated his situation. He was now free from the researchers, free from lies, free to do whatever he wanted, and right now, he wanted to sleep. As Rocky fell asleep, he heard sirens going down the street, and smiled that the organization is going to be shut down.

Rocky woke up in the middle of the day, still in the alley where he fell asleep. Rocky found the sun and deducted that it was noon and started to forage for food. Despite being in bandages, he could still maneuver around, and found many leftovers in the same dumpster that he found the bandages in. In the same dumpster, he found a newspaper and started to read. The front page article was conveniently written about how the lab was conducting illegal research, and all the employees were arrested and imprisoned for five years. All the animals that were experimented on were put into animal shelters and put up for adoption.

"So how does it feel to be free again Rocky?" Gray asked.

"It feels so good, now I can live the life I always wanted" Rocky replied happily.

"Great! I left you a gift right over there where you slept. Don't ask me how I put it there, just put it on" Gray said.

Rocky went over to the place he slept and found a beautiful necklace on the ground. It had a bright silver chain and a vial of a swirling blue mist as the main piece. Rocky stared at it in awe, never seeing anything as beautiful as that, and put it on. Rocky felt a surge of power rushing to him, and felt as strong as ever. His wounds had healed in an instant and was now able to take off his bandages. Rocky walked around the city he had went to. He found a sign that had a label that he thought was most likely the name of the city, Adventure Bay, huh, Rocky might enjoy it here.

* * *

Rocky had just ended his story and looked around. All of them were tearing up, telling Rocky that he was the strongest pup ever and he deserved the position he had, even if he was slightly messy at times.

"Do you still have that voice in your head, or is that just something that you made up? Also, where did you put you're necklace?" Marshall asked.

"The voice occasionally talks to me, but Gray always says how nice of a family I have here, giving compliments to all of you. For the necklace, I still have it, it's in my pup house on a shelf. I occasionally wear it, but when I do, I hide it under my pup tag or my fur" Rocky replied.

By the time Rocky finished his story, it had turned night and was getting late. They were up so late that Ryder went down to personally tell the pups it was late and they all needed to sleep. All the pups went back to their respective houses except for Rocky, Zuma and Chase.

"I'm so sorry that I pressured you so hard. It must have been difficult dealing with all that bottled up emotion. If you need a friend to help you cope with your past, I'll be here" Chase apologized.

"Well, it was a great relief getting it out finally, and thanks for lending your help to me" Rocky said as he smiled. "It's getting late, let's go to bed."

As Chase was heading back to his pup house, but couldn't help overhearing Zuma's statement to Rocky.

"Thanks for telling the story, and I'm glad you never mentioned me, I don't know what I would have said if you had mentioned that I was there" Zuma sighed in relief.

Chase stopped right in tracks, turned around and asked Zuma a question.

"You were there with Rocky? When? How? Why?" Chase stuttered.

"Oh, Chase, you weren't supposed to hear that, it was only meant for Rocky, heh" Zuma replied sheepishly.

* * *

 **Sorry for the abrupt ending, I couldn't think of a way to end the story without leading into the next part. This will be the last chapter until next week, maybe another week if I forget to write or edit chapter 5. Anyways, like before, grammar mistakes and suggestions, thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 is here!**

* * *

"What do you mean you were there? You could have helped him, yet you did nothing about it? Is that why you kept it a secret? So you wouldn't be seen as a heartless pup?" Chase growled.

"Kinda, but not in the way you powtway it" Zuma replied.

"Oh, weally?" Chase mocked, "is the poow little pup scawed that he would get exposed?"

"Stop it Chase, you have no right in butting into our past like that, and mocking Zuma, that's a new low, even for you Chase. Maybe I never should have trusted you in the first place!" Rocky replied harshly.

"Hah, without me and Ryder, you would have been no one, you would have been a stray wandering the streets with the police on your tail!" Chase hollered back.

Rocky and Chase were at each other's throats until Ryder came out of the lookout's upstairs and yelled at the two pups to go to bed and be quiet. Rocky and Chase gave each other a death glare and walk off to their pup house, leaving Zuma behind questioning what had just happened. Soon Zuma also returned to his pup house to sleep. The next morning, Chase was noticeably more harsh to Rocky than ever. When Chase woke up the other pups, he made sure to blast his speaker right into Rocky's ear. Rocky jolted awake by the loud noise and frantically looked around to find what just made that blaring sound. Once Rocky realized that Chase was the one that blasted it, he growled and tackled Chase to the ground. Chase tried pushing Rocky off, but Rocky, using his mechanical limbs, kept Chase pinned down. Soon Ryder came around the corner to see what was holding up Chase waking all the pups for breakfast, saw Rocky pinning him down, then quickly running to Rocky and Chase, pulling Rocky off of Chase.

"Rocky, you know it's against the rules to interfere with Chase when he has business to do. I'm very disappointed in you, seeing you were the second pup that joined the team" Ryder scolded Rocky.

"I'm sorry Ryder, I'm just a bit tense after Chase blasted his megaphone right in my ear." He told Ryder.

"Serves you right you double crossing piece of garbage" Chase muttered under his breath.

"And you, Chase, I'm more disappointed in you, considering you were here before Rocky and is the second in command of this team. You know better than to anger a member of the team!" Ryder scolded Chase.

"But Rocky was being ungrateful!" Chase defended.

"No buts. Chase, after you get the other pups up, I want both of you to come into my office immediately. You two will not have breakfast until you explain what is happening between you two." Ryder responded.

Chase gave a glare towards Rocky and resumed calling the other pups. After every pup was persuaded to leave their pup houses and eat breakfast, Rocky and Chase went to Ryder's office. Ryder let them in and Rocky and Chase started to bicker again. Ryder, after hearing a bit of the arguing, decided to quiet them down and hear Rocky's story. Rocky described his past again to Ryder just as he did with the pups, and after Rocky finished, Ryder sat there, thinking about what Rocky had just told him, and started to make a decision on what to do about Rocky and Chase.

"Okay, first off, I want Chase to apologize to Rocky, as I see you were the first to argue" Ryder composed. "Then I want Rocky to apologize to Chase because you shouldn't have reacted in the way you did. Afterwards, you are both suspended from the PAW Patrol for a month, and in this month, I want you two to form a relationship like you two did before the other pups arrived."

"But Ryder..." both Chase and Rocky started.

"No buts, and that's final" Ryder scolded.

Rocky and Chase stared at Ryder, then at each other, narrowed their eyes and nodded. Rocky and Chase were then dismissed by Ryder and told them to get their breakfast, but neither of them felt hungry. As Rocky and Chase left the room, they found the rest of the team sitting outside, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"What happened? What does Ryder mean when he said the relationship before we arrived? Is there more Rocky is hiding?" Marshall questioned.

"We'll explain everything, right Chase" Rocky glared at Chase who knew that Chase was not the type to reveal his past.

Chase glared at Rocky, giving him another death glare and sat down.

"Fine, but I want to hear Zuma's story first, since he was there with you Rocky" Chase responded.

Every pup turned their eyes onto Zuma who had just shrunk himself down after hearing Chase blurt out his little secret.

"I'll explain Zuma's past if he doesn't want to" Rocky defended Zuma.

"No, it's ok, I'll explain my own history Rocky, you have done enough explaining" Zuma responded.

* * *

Zuma was also born in the same lab Rocky was in. Zuma was in an experiment called "Complete Control", where they wanted to see if they could change the outcome of a pup's behavior by altering living conditions and encounters. Zuma had a foster mother and father, but Zuma never knew. Zuma also had a "brother" and that brother was Rocky. Rocky also never realized that his foster mother and father were not his biological parents, and lived his life not knowing he was taken away from his real parents. They lived in a bright colored house with multiple floors. on each floor was a treat dispenser with every single type of treat they could have thought of. There were bones, biscuits, and chews with a variety of flavors such as liver and pepperoni. All the wallpapers were chosen by Zuma, which they all was a water blue color. In the back of the house there was a giant pool that Zuma and Rocky would swim together in. There was a diving board, as well as swim instructors to teach Zuma how to swim, but they wouldn't offer Rocky how to swim, however. Upstairs there were many rooms, most were dedicated for Zuma to play in. In one room there were building blocks, while other rooms contained figurines to play with. In the other rooms that weren't for player were for sleeping. Each bedroom had a king sized bed and a night stand next to the bed. Zuma and Rocky would do everything together, that included playing in the blocks room, running around the front yard or the pool, eating, and sleeping. They would have slept in the same bed, keeping each other company. Even though Rocky was never given a name, Zuma was given one, and Zuma never realized that his brother never had a name to respond to. Zuma would always just catch Rocky's attention or call him brother or dude and start their conversation.

Zuma would always be given whatever he wanted, as it was part of his experiment, but was always told not to share it with anyone, not even his own brother. Zuma never understood why, but followed their commands as long as he got stuff he wanted. Life was great for Rocky and Zuma. After a year Zuma was born, however, Rocky was just taken without notice while they were sleeping. Zuma and Rocky during the day planned what to do for their first birthday. They decided they would throw a party with mud pies they made and play in the front yard, as well as go swimming in the pool. As soon as Zuma woke up, he saw that Rocky had just disappeared, looked around, but didn't think too much about it. After getting washed up, he realized that Rocky was nowhere to be seen. He started to ask the scientists where Rocky was, until he realized that he didn't know how to mention Rocky, as he was not given a name.

"Uh, excuse me, but whewe is, uh, my, uh, brother?" Zuma asked.

"Oh, he had to go do something else. Don't worry, your life will still be the same, with him or not" the scientist responded.

Zuma's heart was shattered. Rocky was gone and all his plans to celebrate their birthday were crushed. The scientists, however, still tried to make Zuma happy by celebrating his birthday alone. At first Zuma was too depressed to do anything, but started to notice all the decoration around, including balloons and streamers hung all around, and soon started to cheer up. Zuma participated in many party games the scientists set up like pin the tail on the sheep and bobbing for dog treats, and during this time, Zuma forgot about Rocky completely. After Zuma's party, Zuma went back to his house. Zuma felt lonely without another pup to talk to, and wished more than anything to have Rocky back. The scientists, noticing Zuma's depression, gave Zuma a new tablet to keep him entertained, and it worked. Zuma spent all day on that tablet, and soon memories of Rocky were just distant memories. Zuma would play games, listen to music, or read up on the news if he was especially bored or lonely.

After living in there for another year, Zuma had lived a happy, regular, yet spoiled life. He started to get bored of everything, and eventually just slept all day. During one of his naps, Zuma heard a loud, blaring noise coming from a distance. Zuma looked up, looked out of a window and saw that there were red lights flashing from the windows. Zuma started to get curious, and ran up to the window. He saw multiple scientists run in all directions and in the scurry saw a pup with multiple wounds, the most noticeable was the gash in his belly. Something triggered in Zuma's brain and started to remember memories of his lost brother, and realized that the pup outside might have been the same pup that was his brother. He wanted to help his brother out, but the thick glass held him in, and no one could hear him. After hearing a window shatter, he hoped that it was a scientist, and not his brother, and speakers above him started to blare out information about a breakout. Zuma soon realized that his brother was trying to escape, and that he knew something that Zuma did not. After the loud blaring noises stopped playing, scientists came in to check up on Zuma to see if he was OK.

"Uh, what was going outside? What happened?" Zuma questioned.

"Nothing, nothing you need to worry about. You are safe in here." the scientists responded.

"Oh, ok, can I have something?" Zuma asked.

"Name away" the scientists responded again.

"I want to go outside, not out the house, but the weal outside" Zuma asked.

The scientist's smile soon turned into a frown and started to question the others. After a while, the scientists had denied him of his wish, and Zuma was shocked. Never before was he not given what he asked for. Zuma asked why he couldn't go outside and the scientists replied that the outside was just like the front yard of his house and should never again ask to go outside. After thinking about the scientist's reply, Zuma realized that the scientists were hiding something from Zuma, just like he expected. Zuma's life wasn't what he thought it was like, and right as the scientists were about to leave, there was a loud banging sound near the front.

"Police! Open the door! We have reasons to believe that this facility is breaking the law!" an officer shouted.

No one answered the door after the police officer made his statement, and many louder banging noise came from the door. Suddenly, a crash was heard from the door which Zuma assumed that the door was just knocked down, and police officers swarmed the whole building. Soon officers entered the room Zuma was in and immediately arrested the scientists there that were trying to escape through another exit. Zuma watched as the officers dragged them out of the building, leaving Zuma sitting there. Then, another officer came to Zuma and started to question him.

"Hello there little pup, what's your name?" the officer asked.

"It's Zuma. What's happening here? Am I going to die?" Zuma replied.

"No little pup, you are safe now. Whatever they have done to you, you are now safe from it. Let's get you to a proper home now" the officer said.

Zuma was picked up and put into the officer's arms. Zuma watched as they moved into the halls and out through the front door. Zuma noticed the shattered window that he assumed the officer fell through, and there was blood streaks on the glass with glass shards outside. Next to the window was a broken door with a giant hole the size of a pup in the bottom. Zuma wondered who was strong enough to break down a door to that status, and remembered seeing Rocky running out. Did my brother do that Zuma wondered.

Once Zuma was carried out of the building, Zuma took a deep breath of fresh air and it felt good. Zuma also smelled a scent that was familiar, one that he had known for a year, Rocky's scent. He jumped out of the officers arms and started to follow the scent. The officer tried to chase Zuma down, but gave up in the end as Zuma was too fast for him and Zuma didn't seem to want to return to the officer anyways. Zuma tracked Rocky's scent and noticed a difference from Rocky's scent. It smelled slightly metallic, but wasn't sure why. Zuma tracked the scent all the way to the city, but Rocky's scent got mingled into the other scents of people strolling around. Lost, Zuma looked up and questioned where he was and where Rocky was. Zuma looked around and found a sign, on the sign it said "Adventure Bay". Zuma knew that there was a place called Adventure Bay, as the scientists told him that he was there, but after realizing the scientists had lied to him his whole life, needed another indication that he was in Adventure Bay. It was getting late and Zuma needed a place to stay and sleep. Zuma found an alley and walked down it. In there was a thrown out mattress that was stained with who knows what. Zuma knew that his past life and experiences were over and best forgotten. That meant that Zuma needed new ideals. Zuma went onto the mattress and fell onto the bed. Zuma fell asleep within five minutes.

The next day Zuma started to look for his brother again. Zuma looked everywhere for Rocky. He went to multiple establishments to find Rocky, including a restaurant, a pet shop, and even sneaked into a animal shelter to see if Rocky was caught. Zuma never found Rocky in any of these places, which was slightly comforting that to think Rocky hadn't been caught by the dog catchers. After searching the entire town, Zuma could not find Rocky. With all hope lost, Zuma started to think that Rocky was actually dead, and the scent he smelled was from a cleanup unit picking up Rocky's dead body. Zuma went back to his mattress and tried to fall asleep again. Zuma almost fell asleep until he heard a crash. Zuma jolted awake and walked out of the alley. He saw that the restaurant's window was shattered with shards all around. As Zuma walked closer to the window, a small figure jumped back out and ran off. When Zuma saw the figure jump out, he quickly dove behind the trash cans left outside. After Zuma thought the figure was gone, he walked up to the window. He saw that there was a torn box with frosting all over it, most likely was a cake, but other than that and the window, nothing else was touched. Zuma sniffed around and picked up another scent, Rocky's scent. Zuma started to feel joy, and immediately followed the scent to where it came from. Zuma found himself in an alley and walked around. This alley was more barren than his own, and saw no place where a pup could sleep. Then he saw the figure that broke into the shop. He was sleeping on a makeshift bed made out of trashed items such as towels and cotton balls. The figure was another pup with gave Zuma hope. The pup also had many cuts under his fur and was slightly bleeding. Zuma also noted that there was a glowing blue necklace on the pup's neck which Zuma hoped it wasn't stolen from a shop. Zuma took a closer look and the other pup jolted awake.

"Who's there?" the figure growled.

"Uh, hi, have you seen my bwother?" Zuma asked as he walked closer to the other pup.

"Huh, what's his name?" the other pup asked.

"Uh, I don't know, I always just called him bwother. have you seen him? Wait, you smell just like him!" Zuma replied happily.

"Wait, Zuma? I haven't seen you in a long time! How's it been? Boy do I have so much to tell you." Rocky responded happily.

Zuma had finally found his brother.

* * *

As Zuma finished telling his tale, everyone had calmed down. Chase stopped growling at Rocky, and Rocky had sat down and listened intently. The rest of the pups sat and stared at Zuma with the same expression that they stared at Rocky when he finished his story.

"Well, that's my history with Wocky. Now it's your tuwn Chase. What was youw welation to Wocky?" Zuma told Chase.

"Well, first of all, I'm sorry about assuming that you were a jerk to Rocky. I never should have eavesdropped in the first place. I guess it's my turn to tell a tale" Chase responded.

* * *

 **There's the end to Chapter 5, hope you enjoyed. I feel this wasn't as good or eventful as my other chapters, but the next chapter should explain after Rocky escaped and reunited with Zuma in Chase's perspective. I'll try to write chapter 6 as soon as possible, it could be the next day or next week, depending how I feel. Like always, spelling mistakes, how I can improve, thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter should start getting interesting, and this one is a long one. I really wanted to get this chapter out, so there may be many mistakes. I have been writing this late at night. Now onward to Chapter 6.**

* * *

Chase had just finished his K-9 training at one of the top academies in the world. Chase graduated with near perfect scores and offerings from multiple high ranking police departments from around the globe, it was like Chase was born to be a police pup. Out of all the job opportunities, one stood out the most. It wasn't from a well known department, but it was a very passionate letter. It told Chase that they were looking for pups from multiple departments, and would like to create a diverse type of patrol. Chase replied to this letter, asking many questions about it such as what were their motives and how would they deal with certain situations like break ins and robberies.

Soon enough, Chase had felt he was connected to this department and decided to get interviewed. To Chase's surprise, the department was run by one person, a teenager none the less. Chase started to feel a bit hesitant about joining the team until the teen started the interview. It was not like any other interview like Chase had practiced, it was more like a conversation with a friend than a job interview. The teen introduced himself as Ryder and was happy that Chase chose him out of every letter he received. The interview started, but Chase never felt it had actually begun. They were laughing away and chatting, telling each other stories about their school life. Soon enough, Chase had felt like this job was for him. Ryder told Chase that he would be at a place called Adventure Bay, which is where he set up his lookout. If Chase wanted to join, he could fly there at Ryder's expense. Chase, the next day, took a plane out of the academy and to the PAW Patrol. Ryder had paid for a first class flight for Chase and Chase was given many luxuries such as an in flight movie, many treats and a spacey place to stay. Once Chase reached Adventure Bay, Chase picked up his luggage and headed outside. Chase had just walked out of the airport where he met Ryder waiting for him. Behind Ryder was a police truck and inside was a pack with all the essential tools a police officer needed such as a tranquilizer, nets, a megaphone, and in dire situations, a gun.

"Hello Chase, nice to meet you in person. How was your flight?" Ryder asked Chase.

"It was a good flight, thank you very much. Is that truck for me, as well as the pack?" Chase responded, wagging his tail.

"Of course it is, who else is going to claim it? You're the police pup!" Ryder answered playfully.

Chase blushed and got into his new truck. When he was inside, Chase put on the pup pack and started to look around the truck. He noticed multiple functions, many of them were useful like a winch and of course the typical police siren. Then there were other functions that seemed useless such as a flying drone as the academy never found a drone useful and therefore never taught the pups how to operate one. After Chase got situated in the truck, he decided to give the truck a test drive. At the academy, Chase was given a student truck, mostly to get from place to place, and never got to operate such a complex vehicle like the one he was in. After Chase got his truck started up, he drove the truck around the path circling around the front of the airport. It was smooth and comforting, one of the better quality trucks Chase had ever seen and much, much better than the one he drove around campus.

"Sweet, where did you buy this Ryder?" Chase asked happily.

"Buy? I think you're mistaken. I made that truck from scratch" Ryder responded.

Chase gawked at that statement. He never thought of his leader to be as smart and talented to be able to construct one of the best trucks in the world. After Chase was done staring at Ryder, they took off to get to the lookout. Once they got to the lookout, Chase parked his car in one of the parking spaces.

"Are the other spaces for future pups? And how many members are there going to be?" Chase questioned.

"Well, I was planning to get a police pup first, then maybe around 5 other pups afterwards" Ryder responded.

Chase walked into the lookout and was greeted with a giant room with a huge TV on the wall. There were treat dispensers lined along the wall, and the most noticeable feature was the giant glass elevator in the middle of the room. After going up the elevator, Chase saw multiple machines working, and above all of that was another giant monitor.

"Did you build all of this?" Chase asked as he gawked at everything around him.

"Yup! It's my proudest work so far, but I do plan to upgrade it once we get more pups here" Ryder responded happily.

"Huh, when do I start?" Chase asked again.

"How about now? Currently there is no trouble here, so why don't you get some treats downstairs. After that, take a nap in the beds I set up downstairs. I feel it's going to be a bit before we get our first mission" Ryder responded.

Chase nodded and went down the elevator back to the main room. There, Chase poured a reasonable helping of treats as he didn't want to stuff his face on the first day of his new job. After Chase was full, he went over to the beds. There was only one bed there, and it was a blue bean bag with yellow stars. Chase laid down on the bag and dozed off. When Chase woke up, he found a pup tag next to him. He picked it up and examined it. It was blue with a star in the middle. Chase smiled and put it on around his neck.

"Testing, testing, one, two, three" Ryder spoke through the pup tag.

"I hear you loud and clear Ryder, sir" Chase responded playfully.

"Very funny Chase. Since you're awake, why don't you come up and we can chat some more" Ryder laughed.

Chase got to the top of the lookout and started a conversation with Ryder. For the next few days, there were no incoming calls for any problems going around. Ryder and Chase spent the time chatting and teaching Chase on how to use his new pup pack. Then, finally there was a call. Mr. Porter had called in, saying there had been a break in into his shop.

"The window has been shattered, and the whole inside of the shop is in a complete mess! Who knows what the robber tried to steal!" Mr. Porter exclaimed as he panicked.

"Don't worry, me and Chase will get to the bottom of this. We'll be there in a jiffy" Chase told Mr. Porter.

Once Chase and Ryder arrived at the scene, they found Mr. Porter standing in his shop, arms crossed and staring at the floor.

"We're here Mr. Porter, what's wrong?" Chase asked.

"What's wrong? My shop was just broken into! Besides that, it seems that nothing was stolen except for the cake that was eaten right on the spot and the shattered window" Mr. Porter told Ryder.

"Huh, then it may not have been a robber, but just someone who was hungry. Nonetheless, it's still a crime and we will catch the one who did this!" Ryder responded.

"Hey Ryder, I can try tracking the scent to where the robber went to" Chase suggested and jumped out of his truck to track the scent.

It smelled like a pup, and realized that the robber was a pup, most likely a stray. He also smelled another pup's scent a few feet away, and both scents led in the same direction. Chase followed with Ryder behind him and found himself in an alley. The alley was empty, and the scent had disappeared. Chase quietly cursed that the robbers were smart enough to hide their scents after they got into the alleyway. With a scowl on Chase's face, he went up to Ryder to tell him his unfortunate news.

"They got away Ryder, sir. I'm such a failure" Chase told Ryder dejectedly.

"It's okay Chase, everyone fails at some point, no matter how good you are" Ryder encouraged.

"But on the first case? It's the first crime I experienced outside of the academy and I failed" Chase responded.

"Don't worry, knowing the robber, he will strike again. Why don't you help me figure out where he is going to strike next?" Ryder asked.

Chase nodded, and started to look for clues on who is the robber and where he night strike next. Since it was the first robbery, and a very small one at that, there wasn't very many leads. All Chase and Ryder could find was a some saliva left on the cake. After searching, Chase and Ryder went back to the lookout to replicate the DNA in the slobber the robber carelessly left behind. Chase knew that Ryder had access to the government's DNA library and was able to track down any suspect via looking up DNA sequences.

The replicator takes a while to run, almost 24 hours, so Chase and Ryder decided to sleep on it, and the next day they would find out who had committed the crime and arrest them. As Ryder and Chase went to bed, Chase stayed up for a bit, trying to figure out how the suspect got away from him and how he was able to cloak their scent. While in deep thought, Chase heard a noise around him. His ears perked up and looked around. Using his doggy night vision, Chase got up from his bed and walked out of the lookout. Chase didn't see anything out of place at first, but then realized that Ryder's garage was opened. Chase knew that Ryder was in the lookout sleeping, so there was someone out there trying to rob them. Chase quietly barked out his floodlight and moved very slowly towards the garage. Once he was close, turned on his floodlight and shouted.

"Stop in the name of the law!" Chase barked.

The figure looked up right at the floodlight, and started to run off. Chase got a good look at the robber. Chase noted that it was a pup, no older than he was, all gray except for a patch of dark gray on one eye and a folded down ear while the other was pointed. He carried a large sack draped around the pup's back. The pup tried to run away, but was cornered by Chase inside the garage corner.

"Hah, got you, guess it wasn't as easy as it looked carrying that bag stuffed with stolen goods. Now return the stuff and turn yourself in, you have nowhere to run!" Chase told the gray pup.

The pup growled, and started to bow down. Chase thought that he surrendered himself as started to inch toward the pup, handcuffs at the ready. Then suddenly, the pup jumped with an incredible height and speed and sped away with his bag of stolen goods. Chase was shocked. No pup had ever gotten away from him when Chase cornered them, not even the slyest pup in the academy. Chase growled and started to give chase, but it was too late. The other pup dashed away like lightning and Chase was too slow to catch him. Chase cursed and started to walk back to the lookout, tired. As Chase returned, he saw Ryder outside with his own flashlight inspecting his garage. Apparently Chase and the robber made such a big ruckus that it woke Ryder up.

"What happened here Chase?" Ryder asked.

"The robber was back again for more stuff. What did he take this time?" Chase responded, growling.

"It seems nothing much. He took all of my old tools and all the spare parts that were lying around here. It's not worth too much, all I can get back for a few hundred dollars. What about you, are you hurt?" Ryder asked.

"I'm fine, thank you very much. Argh, I swear I am going to catch that pup if it's the last thing I do. I got a good look at the robber. He was gray with a darker gray spot on his eye. He also had one pointed ear and one floppy one" Chase recalled.

"Great, now we can have everyone looking for that pup! We'll get him in no time. Now, I was thinking, I believe that the robber would try to go for more food, as I see that he only ate one cake and never took any extras. I have reason to believe that he would go to the meat shop down the street from Mr. Porter's restaurant. In the meantime, we need all the energy we can get. Let's go back to sleep, we have a long day tomorrow" Ryder said thoughtfully.

Chase and Ryder walked back to the lookout and went to their respective beds. The next morning, Ryder woke Chase up and told him to get ready. This time, Chase equipped himself with a taser to stun the pup if he tried to escape. Chase walked down to the meat shop and camped out in the alley next to it. That day, no one pup arrived that matched the description Chase had described. For the next few days, Chase would go through the same routine until the gray pup arrived. Chase started to get bored waiting for the pup even though he had camped out for longer at the academy. Finally, one day Chase waited for what seemed like hours and sure enough, the gray pup was back. He was chatting with a slightly smaller chocolate brown lab that Chase assumed was his accomplice from the other break in he smelled. Chase watched as the lab walked off and turned a corner. The gray pup, however, stayed, looked around and jumped right through the window. Since there were few crimes in Adventure Bay, there was no alarm system put up, and the gray pup knew of this. No alarms sounded, and the robber could rob the store without notice. Chase got up and ran out to the window. There, they saw the pup grabbing meat from the back and shoving it into a bag.

"Freeze, PAW Patrol, you are under arrest!" Chase shouted through his megaphone.

The gray pup saw Chase, growled, and started to dash out. Chase was prepared for the gray pup to jump over him, got out his taser and waited. Sure enough, the pup did jump over Chase like the night of the break in, but this time Chase was ready. Chase shocked the pup right in the belly, and the gray pup yelped. He tumbled to the ground outside and clutched his stomach, his bag of stolen meat scattered everywhere on the ground, leaving very few in the bag.. Chase stepped out the door, smirked and pulled out the handcuffs to handcuff the pup. As soon as Chase got close, the gray pup bit Chase in the leg. Chase yelped and tased the gray pup again and the gray pup yelped in pain again. He started to whimper and lied on the ground, not moving. Chase went over, handcuffed the gray pup and dragged him over to his truck. At that point, he saw the chocolate lab reemerge from the corner, bolting to his friend. He knocked Chase away from the gray pup and helped his friend up. Chase growled and ran back, this time with his taser and gun out, and would have shot if needed. The lab dodged the taser blow from Chase and pushed the gray pup away. Chase wildly swung his taser at the lab, and the lab was dodging every single swing. Then finally, he noticed that his friend was up again. The gray pup had broken his restraint and was growling at Chase. Chase looked at the pup, and based on the injuries, knew that he wouldn't survive another blow by his taser. He smiled, and ran up to the gray pup to tackled him. The gray pup tried to dodge Chase's attack, but was rammed into the chest by Chase. Chase had the pup pinned and the lab ran towards him.

"Stop! Don't take another step forward or else he will get it!" Chase threatened.

The lab stopped in his tracks and looked at his pal desperately. The gray pup looked at the lab, then at the bag of meat, and then back at Chase. He nodded at the lab and the lab started to bolt at Chase. Chase smirked and readied his taser at the gray pup to deliver the final blow, but this time, the taser wouldn't activate. Chase held the taser confused and angry and in that moment the gray pup dashed out from under his paws and grabbed the bag of meat and jumped away from building to building, leaving Chase behind. Chase shouted angrily and shot at the fleeing pup a few times, hoping that some of his bullets landed.

When Chase turned around, he saw the lab was still there. Chase ran up to him and knocked him unconscious with a single blow as the lab was worn out and bound him. Chase dragged his prisoner back to his truck and threw him in. Oh, he's going to regret the time he attacked me Chase thought.

Chase drove off and back into the lookout.

"Did you catch the robber? I heard some gunfire" Ryder asked.

"I didn't catch the robber, but I did capture his partner in crime" Chase growled, "Hopefully he will have some answers."

They took the lab and tied him down onto a chair and waited for the pup to regain consciousness. Once the pup woke up, Chase and Ryder started to question the lab. The lab was stubborn, and didn't leak a single piece of information, even when threatened with death by gunpoint. Chase and Ryder questioned him over and over again, not giving him any food until he revealed who the gray pup was. They held the pup hostage for a week with no food, and almost starved the lab. After a week, they had no choice but to give the lab a morsel of food as it would ruin their reputation if they had killed the lab. Chase and Ryder were frustrated and gave up on the lab after a few more attempts at getting the pup to talk, and resumed trying to find the gray pup. They knew that the pup was more aware that they were on him and needed to be more cautious. Chase and Ryder needed a new plan to catch the robber. In the meantime, they sent the lab to the pound with high security priority on him as he was helping the robber.

Chase and Ryder started to devise a new plan and predict where the gray pup would be. They estimated that the pup stole at most one month's worth of food if he rationed it out properly and in that one month time the gray pup would be really hard to find. They needed to find his hideout. Chase and Ryder spent hours each day to figure out where the gray pup would show up next. The gray pup after the meat shop robbery hadn't shown his face very often, most likely because he knew the police would be on him and his food stash would last him a good while. They needed a lead to where the gray pup might go to and apprehend him there. They figured that if the gray pup didn't need to steal food, he would most definitely steal parts as they assumed the gray pup to be a crafty one and would need more parts when he ran out. They located the biggest parts shop in the town. It was the motor shop near Katie's place. Like the meat shop, Chase camped out in the alley nearby. This time, however, instead of a taser, he equipped a gun and the tranquilizer. He needed to stop this pup before he got into any of the shop's supply.

Chase waited in the alley beside the shop and noted all the events occurring in the area. Chase would leave the spot to use the bathroom, but the gray pup never showed up when he was gone. Finally after a few days, the gray pup had shown his face. The gray pup now had a pack on his back, a silver disc with hinges that held something in, just like the one Chase had on his back. Instead of waiting for the pup to do something, Chase jumped out and shot 3 tranquilizer darts at the gray pup. The gray pup, surprised, dodged the darts by jumping through the air. When the pup landed, he growled at Chase who had his gun out and ready to pull the trigger. The gray pup made a mad dash at the store, trying to get into the shop, but Chase shot his gun at the pup. Most of his bullets landed because Chase was trained to hit any target at any speed, but the gray pup never slowed down. Chase knew that his bullets had landed, yet the pup still could stand and commit the robbery. Chase watched as the pup bashed into the window and Chase ran up to the window with his gun prepped. Chase shot into the building blindly, hoping that one bullet would hit the pup. Chase jumped into the building, barked out his floodlight and searched for the pup. He heard machinery working behind a crate next to him and immediately turned the corner. There, he saw the pup with his pup pack at work. Chase observed as the machine closed itself and bullets landed on the ground next to the pup. He had created a machine that could remove bullets. Chase growled when he realized what the machine was and shot at the pup again. This time, the pup was ready. The gray pup jumped on top of the crate and started hopping between the stacks of crates. Chase couldn't shoot at the pup when he was doing that because it would damage the property, so he needed a new plan. Chase took out his tranquilizer and started to shoot it at the pup. Since Chase had limited amounts of darts, he needed to be precise with his shots. The gray pup jumped around the crates, grabbing whatever was around him and put it in a bag he had found. Chase took aim and fired a few shots at the pup, all of the darts had missed however.

Once the pup's bag got full, he needed to get out. The pup tried to jump out the same window and made a mad dash at the window. Chase needed to stop the pup before he could get there and shot the remaining darts at the pup. One dart seemed to skim the pup's fur, but none of the darts hit. Chase growled and as a last resort, aimed a net at the pup. He only had one net on him, and needed to hit the shot. The pup had already left the building and was about to hop away. Chase took aim in the building and shot the net. The net flew in the air, expanding and opening right over the gray pup. The pup was in the middle of his jump and went right into the net. With the net wrapped around the gray pup, he fell to the ground with a thud and struggled to get out. Chase huffed and felt a sense of relief. He had finally caught his target. Chase jumped out of the window to get to the gray pup, but suddenly felt pain in his hind leg. The glass shard had cut the inner part of Chase's leg and was now bleeding out furiously. Chase needed to bandage it up immediately, or else he would die of blood loss. Chase limped over to his truck, got out a roll of bandages and bound his leg in the bandage. Chase hoped that the gray pup was still there, but to Chase's surprise, the net was cut open, and both the pup and the bag of materials were gone.

Chase swore out loud and howled in rage. He would get that gray pup, even if it killed him. Chase had forgotten that the pup had a pup pack, and the pack most likely contained something sharp that could cut right through the net. Chase gathered his net and threw it away since a cut up net was no use to him. Chase went back to the lookout and Ryder immediately noticed the bandage wrapped around Chase's leg.

"Oh, no, what happened? Did you catch the pup?" Ryder asked, concerned.

"He got away again" Chase growled, "I got an injury from jumping out of a cracked window, I guess some shards cut into my leg. It's no big deal Ryder sir."

"Well, if you say so. I started to match the DNA with the suspect and there are no records of this pup anywhere. This means that the pup was born a stray, or has destroyed all information about him" Ryder notified Chase.

"This pup is more slippery than a slug. We'll catch him one day though, he can't run forever" Chase responded.

The next day Chase decided to take a limped around the town. He observed everything around him. He saw Mr. Porter repairing and restocking his shop with Alex helping him. There were many people walking around talking about their lives and jobs. Chase was in deep thought and accidentally wandered into a deserted area in Adventure Bay. Chase realized where he had wandered off to and was about to turn back, but then, he saw the gray pup walking around in the area. Chase stopped right in his tracks and hid by the nearest trash can. Chase peeked and saw the pup jump up to a storage unit above a few rusty poles and realized that that abandoned warehouse had to be the gray pup's hideout. Chase had finally done it, he found the pup's hideout. Chase was giddy with excitement, but needed to infiltrate the area first. Chase waited until the pup left and went into town. Chase, during this time, went into the warehouse. Around him were many many machines, all of them Chase couldn't recognize what their purpose was for. After wandering for a few minutes, he heard the door open. Chase dove behind the closest machine. The gray pup walked in and grabbed a tool off of his workbench. The pup almost left until he raised his nose, sniffed, then growled.

"I know you're in here police pup! Show yourself!" the pup growled.

"Fine, you found me. You're under arrest!" Chase growled back.

"In your dreams police pup! I thought you pups were different than humans, I thought pups were more trustworthy, but now I know that it's not just humans, but it is also human influence as well. You have been corrupted by them, and so I will never turn myself in!" the gray pup shouted.

Chase growled, and pulled out a tranquilizer that he conveniently had just in case he ran into the gray pup. "What do you mean corrupt? You're the one that's corrupt here!" Chase growled as he shot a few darts at the pup.

The gray pup dodged the darts and ran up close to Chase. Chase dodged and shot a few more darts at the pup. The pup used a spare part on a table next to him to block the darts and threw the disc right at Chase. Chase jumped above the disc and looked up. The gray pup was now gone, and Chase frantically looked around for the pup. The pup jumped from above him and smacked him with a sheet of metal, knocking Chase back. Chase was now bleeding from his side and was running out of energy fast. He desperately shot a few more darts at the pup, cursing that he didn't pack his gun. The pup dodged the darts again and ran up to Chase, pinning him to the ground.

"Any last words, police pup?" the gray pup growled.

Chase looked frantically around and noticed that the disc with the blocked darts was next to him. Chase reached for a dart on the disc and stabbed it right into the pup's leg. The gray pup yipped, looked back, saw the dart, and looked at Chase with a scowl. He tried to swipe at Chase, but Chase rolled away before his claw landed. The pup started to wobble around and soon fell onto the ground. Chase got up, and started to drag the pup out of the warehouse and to the lookout. Just as Chase reached the warehouse door, the pup started to whimper.

"Don't take me back please, I don't want to go back, I don't want to face the pain again" the gray pup whimpered.

Chase, curious about what the pup had just requested, put down the pup and examined him. Chase saw under the folded ear that he had a number engraved into the skin. 003 the tag read. Chase was now extremely curious and started to put together the pieces. This pup wasn't a robber at heart, he was a pup that was from a organization. He was just trying to survive the way he found easiest. With this understanding, Chase waited for the pup to wake up. As the gray pup woke up, he looked around, saw Chase and jumped to his paws growling.

"Whoa whoa whoa, I won't hurt you, I just want to help" Chase muttered.

"And why should I trust you? You have been corrupt by the humans" The pup growled.

"I see why you see it like that, so I offer you this." Chase told the pup. He dropped his gun on the ground and his pup pack. "There, now can we start over? This time, not as a police pup, but just a regular pup. Hello, my name is Chase."

"Hello Chase" the pup spoke cautiously, evaluating all the possibilities to kill Chase.

"What's your name?" Chase questioned.

"I don't have a name" the pup responded.

"You don't have a name? Well why don't we give one to you. What about Rocky? You have a beautiful gray coat of fur" Chase suggested.

"Rocky, I like it!" Rocky responded.

Chase and Rocky started to talk, and after getting familiar with each other, Rocky decided to give Chase a tour of his place.

"What's this machine for Rocky?" Chase pointed at a machine with a dented bar.

"That one? It's a bullet remover. That bar in front is for me to bite on to bear the pain, after all, you never hesitated to shoot" Rocky spoke as he glared at Chase.

"Yea, sorry about that, I was just trained to do that" Chase said sheepishly.

After Rocky showed Chase his place, Chase and Rocky started to converse. Chase told Rocky his experience with his academy and how he was destined to be a police pup. Rocky admired Chase's willingness to share his experience and wished that he could also do the same. He knew Chase was sincere with his offer and experience and started to trust Chase. After a few minutes of talking, Chase suggested that Rocky should join the PAW Patrol.

"And join the corruption? No thanks! I'm fine here building my machines in private thank you very much!" Rocky said declining the offer.

"Not all humans are corrupt you know Rocky. You call me close minded, yet you are not willing to give humans a second chance. Who knows, you might like mine" Chase replied.

"I, I don't know," Rocky stumbled.

"Rocky, do you trust me?" Chase asked.

"I, I, ugh, I trust you Chase." Rocky responded.

Chase and Rocky walked out of the warehouse and walked to the lookout. Once they reached the lookout, Rocky started to cower out. Chase noticed and pushed Rocky into the facility. Rocky couldn't bear entering the building and closed his eyes. Once he stopped, Rocky opened his eyes and saw Ryder in front of him. Rocky immediately jumped back and started to growl.

"Oh, did you catch the robber? Why didn't you cuff him Chase?" Ryder asked.

"Uh, Ryder, he isn't a robber, at least not at heart, so I gave him a second chance" Chase told Ryder sheepishly, "Ryder, this is, uh, Rocky, Rocky, this is Ryder."

Rocky started to back away towards the door.

"Rocky, come back here, Ryder won't hurt you like the others did!" Chase told Rocky.

"But he asked to cuff me, see, I told you, all humans want is total control, not what others feel" Rocky shouted.

"Rocky, do you trust me?" Chase asked one more time.

"Chase, I, I, uh, I guess I trust you" Rocky huffed.

"Ok, let's start over again. Ryder, this is Rocky, Rocky, this is Ryder" Chase started again.

"Nice to meet you Rocky" Ryder greeted as he extended his hand.

Rocky started to back away and looked at Chase. Chase shook his head, sighed, and went up to Ryder and put his paw on Ryder's palm. Ryder in turn shook Chase's paw. After seeing Chase do that, Rocky cautiously went up to Ryder and did the same. Ryder clasped Rocky's paw and shook it, then released Rocky's paw.

"See, it wasn't too bad Rocky" Chase asked.

"Huh, I guess it wasn't. Maybe I was wrong, some humans aren't as bad as I thought" Rocky replied.

"Well now we got introductions done and out of the way, Ryder, I would like to elect Rocky as our mechanic and recycler pup" Chase told Ryder.

"Well, being told is different from seeing. Rocky, why don't you show me how good you are at making electronics. Make me anything and from that I will judge if you will be admitted, and you have all my tools to work with and as many parts as you need" Ryder told Rocky.

Rocky nodded, and went to the garage that he stole from a few nights ago. Rocky stayed up all day and night, and Chase watched him work the whole time. Finally, Rocky finished what he was working on. Rocky took his invention and showed it to Ryder.

"So Rocky, tell me what it is" Ryder asked.

"Well Ryder, this is my best invention, or inventions, yet. It is my very own pup pack. Over there is my truck. My pup pack contains many tools that I saw lying around, all the essentials to help me build and make anything I need. There's a screwdriver, a hammer, some tape, a wrench and most importantly, a claw. My truck is a forklift and can contain anything I want in the back compartment. There is claws on the side to grab stuff from the side of the truck, and if needed, a giant crane magnet. What do you think Ryder?" Rocky described.

"Hmm, and you made this in one night?" Ryder asked calmly.

"Yes, I took some inspiration from your design" Rocky gulped.

"Well, if that's the case, then you're hired! It took me multiple nights to make Chase's vehicle and even more for his pup pack, yet you could just look at my design and figure out how to make it in one day! I'm impressed!" Ryder congratulated.

Rocky and Chase cheered with joy as the PAW Patrol already had their second member in matter of weeks. From then on, Chase and Rocky formed an unbreakable bond with each other, Rocky trusting Chase, and Chase helping Rocky out.

* * *

"And that's how we we found each other and bonded, well, except the first bath Rocky took, which is it's own story" Chase finished.

"Yea, tell me about it" Rocky responded as Rocky rolled his eyes.

Rocky was noticeably closer to Chase. Chase looked at Rocky, but this time with a softer gaze.

"I'm sorry Rocky, I forgot completely about the bond we had created. I shouldn't have said the things I did" Chase muttered.

"Same here. I don't know what I would do if I never joined the PAW Patrol" Rocky told Chase sheepishly.

"Well, let's just pretend that never happened and team up again, just like old times?" Chase asked Rocky.

"Well, just as long as you don't try shoving me into a bath, sure" Rocky replied with a sly grin.

Rocky and Chase smiled and walked back into Ryder's office. They explained what had just happened in the past hour, notified Ryder that Chase and Rocky had made up, and was now willing to do anything together again. Ryder took it all in, and approved, but still put them on hold from the PAW Patrol to strengthen their bond. Chase and Rocky walked out of Ryder office looking mortified. Chase and Rocky looked at each other, stared, but then started to smile and walked out of the lookout. Now, Rocky and Chase had time to spend time with each other as brothers. Rocky wore his glowing necklace everywhere as a symbol of a brotherly bond, and did everything together. They would play ball including volleyball and hung out with the other pups. When the other pups were on duty, they stayed in the lounge on the first floor of the lookout and watched Apollo the Super pup. Soon, Chase and Rocky were off their suspension, but still hung out with each other like nothing happened.

"I'm glad Ryder gave us time to connect more. I feel better knowing that we can count on each other" Chase happily told Rocky.

"Same here Chase" Rocky replied.

Rocky and Chase's pup house were now arranged right next to each other, and some nights when one or the other pup had a bad day, the other would usually comfort them and would spend the night with them, just like before. Then one night, something happened. Chase and Rocky were out looking at the moon, staring at the beauty and elegance of the round sphere in the sky.

"Hey Chase, Rocky, care for one more?" Marshall asked the two pups.

"Sure, here, sit next to me Marshall" Rocky told Marshall.

Marshall happily strolled up to Rocky, but tripped on a rock because it was dark and couldn't see it. Marshall tumbled and fell right on Rocky. Marshall's paw caught right under Rocky's necklace and when tumbling, accidentally broke the chain.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry Ro-"Marshall started, then stared at Rocky as lights swirled around him.

The chain Rocky was wearing wasn't broken, but was now glowing a bright silver. More swirls appeared from the center of the necklace and swirled around Rocky. The swirls got brighter and surrounded Rocky in a ball of lights. After the lights dimmed, Rocky had a scared expression on his face. Rocky's fur had a faint glow, but that wasn't what Marshall and Chase noticed first. They stared right into Rocky's eyes. Rocky's eyes were no longer an amber color, but was a glowing sky blue.

* * *

 **Well, this was a long one, hopefully this was thrilling to read. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and it took my mind off of school for a bit as finals are nearing. Anyways, I do intend on adding a bit of magic into the story, wait, no, a lot of magic, and this chapter has the beginnings of that. I'm curious to see if you the reader had noticed any part that foreshadows something planned ahead besides the ending because that is pretty obvious Rocky's necklace isn't what it seems. PM me if you have a hunch on what part it is and what you expect will happen. Also PM me if you want me to write out Chase and Rocky's first bath experience or Chase's academy stories. Anyways, like before, spelling, grammar, thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Now time to throw a bit of a magical essence into the mix, here comes chapter 7!**

* * *

"What's all this Rocky? Are you still hiding more from us?!" Chase yelled at Rocky.

"I, I, can't tell you. It's too personal this time. Not even you or Zuma can know. I feel it would not come out well to tell you" Rocky sheepishly answered Chase's question.

"Rocky, we've known each other since the beginning, so you can tell me. I will understand" Chase pleaded.

"Maybe the beginning in your life, but not mine. I can barely bear my past. It's complicated. You understand right?" Rocky replied.

"Do you even trust me? Sure, go ahead, keep secrets to yourself, nobody cares! It's not like I'll trust you anymore" Chase exploded.

"I still trust you, but I can't trust you with my curse! It's extremely personal and I am not willing to share!" Rocky shouted back.

"Why not? What's so secretive that you can't even tell a friend? Tell a fellow team member or even family?!" Chase yelled.

"I'm a god, okay? You happy now? Knowing that I am related to a god?!" Rocky yelled, startinging to tear up.

"Wait, what? You're a god? And you never told anyone? You could have helped so many people, you could have saved yourself!" Chase yelled.

"It's not that simple! You don't know what it's like being a god! It's not like the gods you see in the movies, it's more of a superpower" Rocky screamed, eyes filled with tears.

"Superpower? Then maybe…" Chase murmured, "Can you explain?"

"Argh, another storytime with Rocky? Whatever. It's not like anyone else is here" Rocky spoke looking around.

"I'm still here, heh" Marshall whispered.

The two pups jumped.

"Oh, yea, that's right, you're still here" Chase responded as he glared at Marshall.

"What's all the commotion out here you guys?" Zuma walked up, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Skye asked Chase. "You two fighting again?"

"Yes we were, and Rocky, why don't you explain everything" Chase growled.

"And why should I? Even if I were to tell, I wouldn't do it in front of everypup!" Rocky growled back.

"Well, everyone is here and listening so you really don't have a choice do you?" Chase smirked.

"Hmf, fine, but try to keep up. I don't want to drag it out too long. For the other pups that just joined, I'm basically a celestial pup" Rocky explained.

Jaws dropped from the other pups and started to vividly question Rocky.

"Guys, guys, I'll explain everything. You see, as a god, I had to live a reoccuring life to put is short. This isn't my, uh, first life, but I wasn't always a god" Rocky responded.

* * *

"Pup! Get over here! I want a foot rest!" a man shouted.

A small gray runt tumbled over, horribly hurt from previous encounters from his owner. Multiple scars were lined across his body, the most evident one was the one across his chest. The pup limped when he walked as one of his hind leg was shattered. His fur was a messy gray caked in blood and sweat. After the pup silently obeyed his master, he wished that today was the day that his owner would finally kill him. His owner was a fat, abusive alcoholic that would often come home drunk and beat the poor pup senseless and after each beating, leaving the pup on the ground to suffer. The pup's owner put his feet on the pup and started to crush the little pup.

"Good boy. I need to go out Rocky, so you better take care of the house while I'm gone, or else you know the consequences" the owner told Rocky.

Rocky gulped. He knew very well what would happen. He would be tied onto the board, something Rocky named, where he would be bound and beat multiple times on and left there until morning. The first time Rocky failed was when the house was robbed because his owner forgot to lock the door. Rocky tried his best to defend the house, but the robber carried a slew of weapons, one of which was a gun and shot Rocky multiple times until he fell unconscious. When the owner returned, he was furious. Rocky had just regained consciousness when his owner grabbed him by the scruff and tied him onto the board. Even though Rocky had tried to fight off the robber, he was still getting punished. Rocky swore never to do anything like that ever again after the first time and had succeeded so far.

Rocky watched as his owner left, making sure that the door was locked. After his owner left, he sat around, tending to his wounds that he gained over multiple beating from the man. Rocky wrapped his broken leg in a leafy mass he had made from the spare leaves around the house when suddenly heard a crash from the back. Rocky jolted up and ran directly to where the crash happened. He saw there was another robber trying to rob them again and like the other robber, had a gun. Rocky growled and leaped right onto the robber, trying to pry the gun out of the robber's hands first so he wouldn't shoot. Unfortunately, because of his wounds, Rocky was unable to keep his grip on the robber's arm and fell onto the floor. The robber took aim at Rocky's belly, and shot him. Rocky felt the pain and yelped. Rocky knew better than to fight, and stayed where he was, letting the robber rob the place. After the robber cleaned up the house, he took Rocky and threw him out of the house. Rocky was barely conscious after the robber shot him, and the toss knocked him out.

* * *

Meanwhile, the gods above had been watching Rocky from above. They watched every session the man had on Rocky and pitied Rocky. No pup should ever endure the pain Rocky felt. Every god wanted to go down and spare Rocky, taking his life and bringing him to heaven, but royal family would not allow it. The family consisted of the Queen of Dreams, The King and their children. The Queen always said it was not Rocky's time to die, that he has more in him that it seems, and so the other gods waited, watching in sorrow. Finally, after the current robbery, the Queen of Dreams agreed to take Rocky up to the heavens. She sent one of her daughters to personally ascend Rocky. The goddess who had the honor to take Rocky up was Silver.

Silver descended down from the heavens and went up to Rocky, taking his life and bringing him up until something unexpected happened. Rocky had regained consciousness and looked right at the goddess. Silver didn't think to much about it until she started to move around and Rocky's eyes tracked her. Silver froze in her tracks. No mortal being could see the gods, so this was a big surprise.

"Are you here to kill me? To finish me off? Well, please do it quick" Rocky told the goddess.

Silver looked and the pup, then left the pup with his life intact. She didn't know what to do in that situation, but also felt a connection to the poor pup. She felt that Rocky still had some fight in him and just needed some help to make it show. Silver returned to the heavens and went straight to the queen's chamber.

"Ah, My beloved daughter Silver! What news do you bring? Did you help out that poor pup down there?" the queen asked.

"No, but here's the thing, the pup can see me! My queen, I felt the energy that the pup has and I've decided that it is not his time to die. He has so much energy and fight in him, he just needs some help" Silver told her mom.

"So what are you suggesting?" the queen asked curiously.

"Mother, I would like to personally help this pup regain confidence and live the life he deserves!" Silver stated, determined.

The queen thought about her bold statement, then responded, "If you were to help this pup, you do know that you will be transformed into a mortal pup with no power, and you may only return after this pup has accomplished his meaning in life. Will you go forth knowing these consequences?" the queen questioned.

"I will, I have to do something for this pup" Silver agreed.

"Very well. You will be sent to earth as a mortal to help this pup become what is destined of him. Go forth and accomplish your task my daughter, Silver!" the queen concluded.

* * *

After the figure walked away, Rocky blinked his eyes. Was that a real pup? Who was she? And why does she make me feel determined? Rocky struggled to get up, and once he did, immediately fell back down. It was no use. Rocky was just going to have to face the board. Rocky started to whimper and heard footsteps coming towards him.

"Well, are you just going to lay there? What use is that?" a female voice spoke.

Rocky looked up and saw the female pup that he saw before. "Who are you?" Rocky asked.

"I'm Silver, and I assume you are Rocky?" Silver replied.

"Yea, how did you know? Are you here to rescue me?" Rocky asked, wagging his tail.

"Well, more or less. You need to believe in yourself, you can fight back! I know you can!" Silver encouraged.

"Do you see all these scars? I couldn't even hurt an ant if I wanted to in my current state. It's hopeless. He'll just kill me and I can finally sleep peacefully" Rocky spoke, depressed.

"No! Don't give up! Here, I'll help you. Let me take care of these wounds" Silver interrupted.

Silver helped Rocky up and put him against a tree. She found a bundle of bandages in the house and started to bind Rocky's wounds. Silver growled a bit because she was unable to use any of her powers to help Rocky, which she would have healed him right there and not have to use the bandages. Once Rocky was all bound up, he looked like a poorly wrapped mummy ready to go out trick-or-treating.

"Thanks Silver, but, um, what am I going to do when the man comes back?" Rocky asked.

"Well, you have to fight! You need to show him you aren't a wimpy pup! That you are strong and brave, that he should treat you better!" Silver replied.

"Well, I guess I can try" Rocky murmured.

Right after Rocky's remark, the front door slammed open. His owner walked in and looked around. He found everything in disarray and most of his valuables were gone including his favorite shotgun next to his couch. He was furious and stomped around to find Rocky. Rocky as soon as he heard him, hid behind Silver.

"What are you doing? This is the perfect chance to fight him!" Silver encouraged.

"But he's so big! I can't take him down myself, you have to help me!" Rocky panicked.

"Rocky! Where are you you stupid little pup! How could you let robbers steal my stuff again?! Come out wherever you are, you know what's going to happen" Rocky's owner shouted.

Soon, his owner found Rocky outside, cowering. He stomped over to the cowering pup and grabbed him by the scruff.

"Bite him! Scratch him! Do something to fight back!" Silver shouted.

As Rocky flailed around, he took Silver's advice and nipped at the hand that grabbed him. His owner, taken by surprise, dropped Rocky onto the floor. Rocky dashed over to Silver and growled at his owner. Never before did Rocky felt a surge of energy. Rocky felt so strong, so confident, like something deep within him had just awoken. Rocky now had a will to fight back. Rocky took a glance at Silver who nodded, and pounced onto his owner. The man howled in rage and scrambled around to find something to fight back with. His hands soon closed on a small pocket knife and started to jab at Rocky. Rocky jumped off the man and started to dart around, trying to avoid the knife. Since Rocky still was injured from the robbery, he couldn't dodged all the knife swipes and was caught on the side, causing a large gash to form. Rocky yelped with pain dropped to the floor. Rocky frantically looked around and saw Silver just watching. Rocky's eyes pleaded Silver to do something, but Silver just stood there, not moving from her spot. Rocky was infuriated and his fighting spirit reignited. He jumped to his feet and held his ground, gritting the pain in his side. Rocky saw the man run towards him, this time with a bat and swung the bat at Rocky. Rocky growled and caught the bat right in his mouth. The impact of the man's swing almost knocked out Rocky's teeth, but Rocky was able to hold it in his mouth. He threw the bat aside and pounced at the man once more. Rocky started to claw at the man, wanting revenge for all the times he had pained him and pay it back to him. Rocky got a few swipes in until Silver pushed Rocky off.

"I think that's enough Rocky. I don't think he will wrong you again" Silver told Rocky.

"What were you doing back there? Why didn't you help me? I was clearly hurt and down, yet you sat there staring at me" Rocky growled at Silver.

"Now now, no need to growl" Silver responded and started to wrap bandages around Rocky's wound. "I wanted you to find yourself and your power inside. If I had helped, you would go back to depending on others."

Rocky thought about it for a moment and calmed down. Rocky let Silver wrap the bandage around his chest, adding more layers of bandage on him.

"Come on Rocky, let's leave, we don't need to be here anymore" Silver beckoned.

Rocky nodded and started at the door. As he reached the door, the man shouted at Rocky never to come back, cursing every step Rocky took. He then proceeded to throw his knife at Rocky. Rocky saw it coming and dodged the knife, but because he dodged it, it was flying straight at Silver. Rocky tried warning Silver, but at that point, it was too late. Rocky watched as the knife flew at Silver, and his heart stopped as the knife almost hit her. Rocky closed his eyes, then heard a thud. He opened his eyes and saw the knife embedded in the wood wall behind Silver. Rocky stared in confusion as he saw Silver unscathed.

"How, how did you not get hit? It was coming right at you!" Rocky questioned.

Silver sat there, glaring at the knife. She turned around and sighed, then responded to Rocky's question.

"Rocky, you see, I'm not actually here. I'm only here to guide you. You are the only one that can see me. That fight you had, the man thought it was only you. I couldn't help you because I'm not actually here, I wouldn't have been able to do anything" Silver explained sounding defeated.

"So you're like an imaginary friend?" Rocky asked.

"Sort of, but better" Silver replied and smiled.

Rocky started to wag his tail and stood next to Silver. After all that time Rocky spent with the man, he was finally free, he finally found his spirit and he finally found a friend, even if she was imaginary. Rocky rubbed against Silver's fur and Silver smiled. Silver started to glow a bright white and disappeared. Her task was complete. Rocky looked around, dazed, to find Silver.

"Silver? Where are you? Don't leave me! Not after I finally found a friend!" Rocky cried.

"Don't worry Rocky, I'm still here. Remember, I'm like your imaginary friend. I'm always with you until the very end" Silver whispered in Rocky's head.

Rocky froze, then smiled. Until the very end. Huh, I like the sound of that Rock thought as he walked out of the house.

Rocky from then on lived as a stray, gathering resources and frequently begged people for food. Rocky developed a moral, never to steal, no matter how hungry he was. Rocky would wander the streets often at night, gazing at the stars. Silver told Rocky that if he wanted, after he died he could join Silver in the stars, live all high and mighty and watch down on the people of earth from heaven. Rocky would agree and laugh, stating that if he did die, he wished for a quick and painless death so that he could join her as soon as possible. Rocky would play around with Silver, pretending to do something really dangerous and fake his death. Once Rocky drank from a poison bottle and fell over unconscious. Silver started to panic for a full minute until Rocky woke up, laughing. Silver formed in front of Rocky, walked over to him, then proceeded to slap him. Rocky deserved that. Finally, one day Rocky's time had come as he caught a very serious disease from foraging in the alleyways, and passed away without anyone knowing he died.

* * *

"Wait, that story completely conflicts with what you said before!" Chase asked Rocky.

"Like I said before, I lived many lives, not just this one. After I died in my first life, like Silver said, I was able to live with her, but not as Rocky, but as Gray" Rocky responded.

"So there's more? Argh, I never knew you were so complicated Rocky" Marshall whined.

"Well, let's go to sleep and I'll tell you the rest tomorrow, it's really late and the sun's almost up" Rocky suggested.

The pups agreed and slept all that they could so that the next day Rocky could continue his life story. The next morning, Chase woke everyone up, making sure Rocky was the first one up. The pups yawned, then want to Ryder to have breakfast. Ryder noticed how tired the pups were, but didn't look into it. He didn't want to meddle in the pup's business as long as it didn't conflict with their responsibilities. After the pups finished their breakfast, they immediately gathered around Rocky.

"Still want to hear it? I thought you would have forgotten" Rocky said sheepishly.

"Yes Rocky, we all want to hear it, including me" a unknown gray pup replied while walking up to the group, giving Rocky a wink.

This pup had a darker fur color than Rocky and was slightly bigger than any of the other pups. He had black paws and had a wolfish look to him. His eyes had a brilliant blue color, the same color that Chase and Marshall saw last night.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Chase asked the gray pup.

"Who me? Why don't you ask Rocky, he'll tell you all about me" the pup responded.

"Hhmf, hello Gray" Rocky sighed.

* * *

 **So here's the end. It may be a bit confusing so just to explain it, the Rocky in the past isn't the Rocky currently, they just share the same name. This isn't a great chapter, but it's also one of those chapters that I never developed. Anyways, like always, grammar, spelling, reviews, Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**So finals are finally over and I can focus on summer now! Of course I have lots of other events to do like volunteering, but I will try to upload more frequently if possible. Anyways, here's chapter 8!**

* * *

"Wait, Gray? But I thought you were Gray? Wait, I'm confused" Chase stuttered.

"Here, let me explain. Gray is the same one that was the voice that guided me in the lab, and Gray is also the one who, um, I became when I was reborn" Rocky tried to clarify.

The other pups stared at Rocky with blank stares and confusion.

"So he is you, but he's not actually you because he's right here. Something doesn't add up here" Chase asked suspiciously

"No no no, you see, I'm kinda like a reborn version of Gray because Gray is the one who is the god, I'm just, like, connected to him" Rocky replied.

Gray sat next to Rocky, looking amused at the conversation going on around him.

"So are you a god or not and is he you or not?" Marshall questioned.

"It's probably better if I just explain what happened after I was reborn as Gray" Rocky suggested.

"Please do!" the group responded.

* * *

After Gray was born, he seemed to notice everyone glaring at him occasionally. Gray would look around and see people staring at him, whispering to their friend about who knows what. Gray never understood what was to talk about him. What was there to talk about him? He was the son of the Queen and King, next in line to be royalty, and even had a strong set of powers. These powers Gray had he had called copycat. Gray is able to detect energies and powers and use it for himself. He could be as strong as his mother, but also as weak as a peasant depending what powers they had. Gray's abilities also include heightened senses, allowing him to be able to do activities others could not as well as the ability to manipulate anything in front of him in his line of sight. For the longest time, Gray never told the queen he had these powers until the queen straight up asked Gray if he had any powers. Gray responded truthfully and told the queen that he had powers and the queen left with a scowl on her face. Gray got curious and eavesdropped on his mother talking to his father. Gray crawled through a air vent that went right above his mother's room.

"He has the exact power the book describes! He matches the description perfectly! What are you exactly?" the queen asked.

"How do you know it was me? It could have been you that caused it!" the king responded.

"I know it isn't me because I have led this kingdom to victory on multiple occasions! Tell me who you are or you will make me force it out of you!" the queen threatened.

"Try me!" the king shouted back.

The queen snapped at that remark and started to charge at the king. She conjured a energy arrow from thin air and shot it at the king. The king dodged the arrow and the arrow hit the wall of the room. The impact caused the wall to collapse and shards and dust flew everywhere, obstructing Gray's view. Gray left the grate, terrified of getting his mother mad. As soon as Gray put back the cover, Silver came to Gray to confess something.

"Gray, I have to tell you something. I can't hold it any longer. Mom and Dad wanted me to keep it a secret, but I can't anymore. You've noticed how others just watch you, right? Well, the reason they watch you is because, well, because you're fur color is gray, not white" Silver confessed.

"So? Just because my fur color is gray, it doesn't mean anything right?" Gray responded.

"No, you don't understand, you see, the pups that are allowed to live in the queen's kingdom, all of them have white fur showing purity. Since your fur is Gray," Silver continued.

"What about my fur? What make me different from anyone else? I'm here like everyone else, so what makes me so different?" Gray exploded.

"Your fur is gray because one of our parents isn't as pure as they seem. It could be mom or dad that has darkness inside of them. Mom wanted to wait to tell you that, but I can't hold it any longer" Silver cried.

Gray stared at Silver with confusion. Darkness? No, It can't be! I'm not evil, am I? Gray rushed into his mother's room. He saw the queen standing on the ground with another arrow at the ready. She aimed at a black figure flying in the air. The figure had a pitch black coat and black feathery wings with glowing red eyes. He had a smile on his face, then spoke.

"I'm surprised that you haven't realized sooner you stupid old fool! After your real husband left to fight me, he knew that he wouldn't come out alive, even you knew, but when 'he' came back, you accepted him, not realizing it was me, and now I have one of my own here! Hah, I had a small margin of chance of pulling this off successfully, yet it worked. I finished my job, I'm leaving back to the underworld. Have fun with our half breed son!" the figure spoke, then flew away.

The queen growled and shot the arrow at the figure, but clearly missed. She sighed, then looked over at Gray with a glare. She looked angry, enraged, but also had a look of sorrow. She walk over to Gray who was cowering under a table in the master bedroom. Next to him, he saw the book that his mother was looking at earlier. It read this:

The Curse of the Deviled God

This curse is a very rare condition where a child has both parts of good and evil. No one knows how a child of this kind is born, but some theorize that two powers of equal good and evil will have a child of this sort, but it is still rare with a chance of ~0.1%. From from few cases from the past, the child will contain equal power from each parent of good and evil. The child will have gray hair (or fur if it is any kind of furred animal) and have a special power that the child possesses. This power is the power of copying other abilities around them. A child of this sort is also infertile and will not be able to reproduce.

After reading the passage, Gray looked up at his mother, scared.

"Are you going to kill me? Am I actually evil, part of the devil?" Gray asked.

"Well, I guess the truth had to come out. Yes, you have a part of evil in you, I assume half of you is evil. But this does not mean I have to kill you. Gray, my son, you will always be my child, and I will never kill one of my children. Go into that room over there and retrieve the necklace inside" the queen spoke.

Gray nodded, then went inside the room his mother gestured at. Inside that room were giant marble pillars lined next to a long pathway and a long chamber which was all white. On each pillar contained a torch glowing brightly. At the end of the chamber, Gray saw a giant statue of the queen sitting on a giant marble throne. Under the statue was a pedestal with a bright blue picked it up and brought it straight to his mother.

"I want you to wear this. This necklace contains some of my power that will help you overbalance the evil inside of you, but the necklace will need to take away your powers to be able to work. You may unleash the powers inside by breaking the chain. The chain will reform after it senses you are finished using your power. Also, you may break the centerpiece to unleash the full power of the necklace. It will give back your power permanently, but it will also give your evil back as well" the queen told Gray.

Gray gulped, then nodded and put on the necklace. Gray felt something drain out of him and saw lights swirl around him. The lights went into the center of the necklace and disappeared. Gray tried to use his power and sense the energy he felt in his mother, but realized that he could no longer feel it, just like how his mother described. After the necklace was done, the queen pushed Gray out into the hallway, telling him that she needed to think about what to do. Gray walked down the hall and into his own room. It was white marble with a giant bed in the middle and a huge carpet on the ground where Gray would constantly lie down on it and think about what he would do. He had a bookcase in the side with many books about multiple different topics such as combat, science and magic. Along with the bookshelf there was also a dresser opposite of the bookshelf. On the dresser was the giant mirror that he would stare at, admiring his own reflection. Now, he scowled at his own reflection with the gray coat, cursing at his own reflection. Why couldn't I have been white Gray thought.

Gray tried to fall asleep, but was too riled up to fall asleep, so he decided to take a walk. Now when everyone was whispering about him, he now knew why they did. They were talking about how he has evil inside and wanted to stay away. Gray started to slow jog, and then started to run, tears forming in his eyes. He couldn't bear the fact that everyone was afraid of him, wouldn't talk to him just because of his corrupted father. All the places he loved to visit on his walks were now unappealing such as the giant statue of his mother put up in the middle of town. Days went by and Gray lost interest in the outside. What's the point? People would just judge and stay away. Finally, Gray couldn't take it anymore. He marched up to his mother's room and barged in.

"Gray! What in the heavens are you doing?" the queen shouted.

"I can't take it anymore mother! I can't live like this, knowing that there is evil inside of me and everyone else knowing as well. I want to go somewhere else where others won't look at me as if I'm a freak. I want to be free! I want to enjoy my life!" Gray pleaded.

"Where would you go? The only other place is down where the mortals live, but even if you wanted to, there must be a condition or reason to visit down there" the queen questioned.

"Well why not? Isn't being cursed enough?" Gray pushed.

"Well, not a good enough reason, and where would you go?" the queen urged.

"I'll find a place, I can survive down there, I have the necklace after all" Gray pushed.

"Well, I guess you could, but if you go down, you will no longer be able to return up here unless I personally retrieve you and you know how much I hate going down there, as well as gaining the curse of infinitely reborning as a different pup. Will you go down to earth knowing this?" the queen sighed, defeated.

"Yes! Oh thank you! I agree!" Gray answered happily.

The queen sighed, then sent Gray down to earth, following Gray to send him off. She kissed Gray goodbye and went back up to heaven. Gray sighed in relief, then skipped around to the new place he was in. Finally, no more pups looking at him like a devil, he could finally find a place to live and experience his life fully. Gray first needed to find an alley. He saw a small alleyway that didn't seemed to be occupied. It contained a dumpster in the back and lots of junk littered on the ground. He organized the area and cleaned up all the trash on the ground. As he was cleaning he heard voices from the entrance.

"Well well well, what do we have here" A voice spoke.

"Well, I think it's a lost pup that wandered into our alley" another spoke.

"Oh, is this your alley? I'm sorry, I'll leave immediately" Gray responded to the voices.

"No no no, stay, we could use company" the third spoke in a malicious tone.

The trio walked up to Gray, teeth bared. Gray started to cower back to the end of the alley. He saw three pups, the first with a bright orange fur, another with yellow fur and the other with a light brown coat. They looked almost like kittens if Gray didn't look closely. They started to get closer, claws out, ready to slash at Gray. Gray back away until suddenly the yellow pup dashed around Gray with amazing speed and nipped at him behind. While Gray was distracted, the orange pup ran up to Gray and punched Gray in the side. It blew Gray to the wall with an amazing force that it left a dent on the brick wall. Gray coughed up a bit of blood and cursed. He realized that he wasn't going to make it out alive if he didn't fight back, so Gray took up a fighting stance. The yellow pup ran circles around him and started to dart in to nip at Gray again while the orange pup prepped another punch. Gray examined the three pups. He noted that the yellow pup was the fastest of the group while the orange one was the strongest. He hadn't seen what the brown pup could do, but Gray figured that he must have something special about him. Gray also noted that no regular pup could have such speed or strength and determined that they had powers like him. Gray deducted that it was only fair to fight power with power and finally try to unleash his power from his necklace.

Gray yanked on the chain and it snapped almost immediately. Gray felt his energy return to him and became energized. He could sense the yellow pup run around him and match speed with speed. Gray ran circles around the yellow pup. The yellow pup was taken by surprise at the speed of Gray and ran into the orange pup who did not move from the impact. Gray smiled at them and charged right at the three pups. The orange pup stood in front of the other two pups, ready for the impact. Gray charged right at them and knocked the orange pup into the air. The two pups gawked at their flying companion and the brown pup went over to catch the flying pup. The orange pup landed right onto the brown pup's back.

"Who are you and how do you have the same powers as us?" the brown pup questioned.

"Who wants to know?" Gray growled back.

"You're pretty strong. Fine, have our alley, we won't bother you" the yellow pup responded.

"No, I couldn't take your alley. It was yours. I'll leave" Gray replied politely.

"Tsk, you're too soft, you'll never survive here as an alley dog, but if you insist. Say, why don't you join us? You would make a great leader" the orange pup asked Gray.

"Oh, that would be great!" Gray responded.

"Well, let me introduce ourselves," the yellow pup told Gray, "My name is Cheetah, the orange pup is Tiger and the third is Lion."

"Tiger, Cheetah and Lion huh? I can see it. How did you end up here and how do you have powers?" Gray asked.

"Hey, why do you have so many questions, we are the ones that are supposed to ask the questions here" Lion snapped.

"Shut up Lion, he's clearly stronger than us. Do you want to be killed by him? Don't mind Lion. We were born in the same family, we had inherited our powers from our mother and father who had abandoned us because we were too much for them and their owners. I inherited the power of strength, Cheetah over there inherited the power of speed, but Lion didn't inherit any power, at least we don't know yet. What about you? Where are you from?" Tiger asked.

"Well, I'm from, um, up there?" Gray tried while pointing from the sky.

"No way! You're from heaven? Have our blessings been answered?" Cheetah replied, excited.

"Well, not exactly, I didn't fit in up there so I left, it's a long story. My name's Gray by the way" Gray responded.

"Gray, huh? Well, welcome to the pack! It's nice to have you here!" Tiger welcomed, "Wait, you never said how you had the same power as us."

"Oh, I have a power that allows me to copy any ability I see" Gray responded.

The three pups dropped their jaws. "What?! You can copy powers?!" the three said simultaneously.

"Yup! Oh, also, you need to vary up your strategy. The first attack was nicely executed, but what was your second plan afterwards?" Gray questioned.

"Well, usually other pups don't last that long after that attack" Lion replied sheepishly.

"Well, I have some ideas to fight pups like me" Gray suggested.

"Oh, please do! That's why we are making you leader" Tiger replied.

After Gray got situated with the alleyway, the three brothers showed Gray around the town they lived in. They showed Gray where all the best places to steal food from were located. One of which was a giant meat shop. They told Gray there was a hole in the wall that allowed them to enter undetected. They had just visited earlier and stole a few pieces to also showed Gray where to avoid such as the pound and the police station, as well as some alleyways to avoid because they were too strong to deal with. Gray took a gaze into those alleyways and examined their powers. Some powers were extremely strong that Gray had never seen before in heaven such as the power of illusion, but some also contained powers that were weaker compared to Gray's power. After the trio finished their tour, they found a group of pups rummaging through their alley.

"Oh, this will be interesting. Ok Gray, this is a regular occurrence here in the alleys called raids. Usually pups will gang up and raid alleys for food or resources. Here's a pack that obviously was oblivious that they are raiding a high ranking clan. Let's get them!" Tiger explained.

The four pups rushed into the alleyway. The gang of pups looked up and saw the four pups charging up to them. After recognizing the four, their eyes grew as big as dinner plates and tried to rush out, but was blocked. The gang was pushed back into the end of the alley and the trio attacked, but before the trio could rush up, Gray's eyes glowed a bright blue and the gang started to levitate. Confused, both the trio and the gang looked right at Gray. Gray sent the gang flying out the alley. After they landed, they ran away with their tails between their legs

"Ok, what was that" Cheetah asked Gray.

"Well, I never used it, but I have the ability to manipulate anything I see" Gray explained.

"Well then, with you, we could become the strongest gang in the city! We have to go to the Masked Club tomorrow to tell everyone there's a new member in the Feline Fiends!" Tiger said, overjoyed.

"The Masked Club? Where and what is the Masked Club?" Gray asked.

"Oh, let me explain," Cheetah started," the Masked Club is a place where groups and gangs are announced, as well as a place where anonymous pups can chat about recent activities. The most important is the ranking board where each clan is ranked. Hopefully we can get to the top!"

"Wait, how does it work? I can sense powers of others, and with that I can sense the high ranking pups" Gray asked.

"The club owner had a spell over the club where no pup is allowed to use any sort of power inside. There is also a charm that each pup wears that allows them to disguise as a fake identity," Lion explained. "Cheetah's is Vortex, Tiger's is Genesis, and mine is, well, Gray, heh"

"Well that's convenient. where do get one of these charms?" Gray asked again.

"You need to get one from the entrance keeper where you will receive a random form. You can call yourself anything" Cheetah explained.

After the pups finished talking,they gathered up all the trash and put them back to where they belonged. It had been a long day, and the trio slept. They each had a bed made out of newspaper and thrown out pillows inside a cleared out and abandoned dumpster located in the back corner of the alley. It wasn't too cozy to Gray, but it had to work. Eventually, Gray fell asleep after multiple tossings and turnings. Gray woke up with sirens outside of the alleyway and gunshots after the sirens. The trio, Gray noticed, was not in the dumpster bedroom. Gray leaped out of the dumpster and looked outside. He found the trio, injured, with Lion being the only one that could stand up on his paws but still injured extremely bad. The other two were lying on the ground, bleeding, eyes closed.

"Lion, Tiger, Cheetah, you are under arrest for multiple robberies and acts of murder!" a K-9 officer shouted.

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 **So, it's the end of chapter 8, hope you enjoyed. I will see if I can post the next chapter as soon as possible as I have nothing planned for this week. This story has a big plot line and some have told me it might be getting too intricate, so just as a summary, the only parts you need to remember is Rocky's story both before and after the lab and this story line. The others are just fillers. Anyways, Hope you enjoyed this chapter and like always, grammar, spelling, thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Well, I'm back, I had a lot to do the past few weeks but I'm back and ready to continue the story. In that time, I was able to come up with new concepts and ideas that I will be happy to write. Also while during the week, I noticed that there are few to none stories that involve Arrby, even though he's so adorable (or because I have a few dachshunds myself), but I'm also currently thinking about a plot line for Arrby and hopefully other writers will too if they're reading this. Anyways, onto chapter 9.**

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Gray scanned the scene. His new friends were hurt and unconscious and the K-9 officers were advancing fast. Gray needed to do something to help, but not get his friends more hurt than they already were. Gray rushed up to the trio and dragged Tiger and Cheetah towards the back of the alley.

"Hey you in the back, who are you?" a German Shepard police pup shouted at Gray.

"My name is Gray, who are you?" Gray growled back, still carrying Tiger.

"If you must know, my name is officer Roger. Are you working with the Feline Fiends? If you are, then I would have to take you in as well" Roger growled back.

"I'd like to see you try" Gray shouted back as he got into a fighting stance.

"Be careful everyone, we don't know what he can do if he was accepted into the Feline Fiends" Roger warned the other officers.

Gray and the other officers circled each other, no one daring to make the first attack. Gray noticed that Lion had also moved back with his brothers, trying to move them further from danger. After a few minutes of constant circling, Gray also noticed one officer started to get antsy and the officer charged at Gray with his taser out and ready. Gray smirked at the ignorant officer and froze him right in his tracks with his power.

"Now now now, you didn't think a simple charge was going to do anything, did you?" Gray asked.

"I told you to be careful! Get out of there now!" Roger shouted, annoyed.

"I can't move! He's doing something to me!" the frozen officer cried.

"Now, you will leave my friends alone, or I'll escort you out myself, you got that?" Gray threatened.

The other officers except Roger did not believe Gray was actually telling the truth and like the first officer, they all charged at Gray. Gray smiled and froze every single police pup and pushed them back hard. Roger growled, but was clearly terrified. The officers got up and backed away from Gray. The first frozen officer immediately darted away the first chance he got, ran to his vehicle and drove away, abandoning the other officers at the site. The other police pups got into their own respective vehicles and started their engines. Right before they left, Roger threatened Gray.

"This isn't over Gray, we will catch you one day!" Roger shouted at Gray and drove away.

Gray watched the police group drive away, then looked around for Lion. Lion, in the flurry of events, moved his unconscious brothers away to the very back of the alley, propped them up on the wall and started to tend to their wounds. Gray walked over and help Lion bandage up Cheetah and Tiger. Soon after Gray and Lion bandaged them up, the two pups regained consciousness.

"Where are we?" Cheetah questioned.

"We're still here in the alley. Gray drove the police away. He saved us." Lion responded.

"Ugh, I hate the police, but I hate those pups from yesterday more. Those raiders from last night probably ratted us out, those stupid mutts" Tiger growled.

"We need to move to another alley to prevent the officers from finding us. Thankfully we have a few backup places we can stay" Cheetah planned.

"You guys have more than one alley?" Gray questioned, intrigued.

"Yea, once you finish a raid, you can also force out the current alley pups that are living there. Of course, having more than one alley means more you need to take care of, which also means that there is a higher chance of them getting occupied by other alley dogs, but we can take that risk. We have two other alleys so we can go to those" Tiger explained.

Gray nodded and helped Tiger up on his paws while Lion helped Cheetah. Gray supported Tiger as he guided Gray where to go. They took the darkest and shadowy areas to get to the alleys. Cheetah told Gray that they were going to take a few detours so that they would be seen as less as possible so other alley pups and dogs wouldn't see them hurt as it would damage their reputation. Gray nodded and continued to follow Tiger's directions. Finally after a long walk of turn after turn, the four pups entered a deserted alley. Gray set Tiger down who was tired out and Tiger almost immediately fell asleep. Cheetah lied right beside him, equally as tired.

"Lion, why don't you show Gray where the club is. He needs a charm anyways. Go find a club authority and get a charm, we'll go tomorrow after we heal up a bit" Cheetah yawned.

Lion nodded, grabbed his charm and took Gray out to find the club. Gray followed Lion to another alleyway that looked abandoned with nothing in it. Gray was confused, What was so special about this alley?

"What are we doing here? Aren't we going to a club or something?" Gray asked suspiciously.

"We are, and we're here" Lion replied in a monotone voice.

Lion put on his charm and touched the wall with his charm. As soon as Lion touched the wall, the brick wall started to change. A gray color was spreading from Lion's paw where he touched it and soon enough, the wall morphed into a massive steel door. Gray gawked at the magic involved in the door and turned to Lion who was now gone. In his place was a gray pup with amber eyes and a messy coat of fur.

"Who are you" Gray growled.

"I'm Lion, remember, we all have a secret identity here." Lion hissed, "Stay out here and out of sight. I will go in and find you someone who can get you a charm."

Gray stared and nodded. Lion glanced at him one last time and went into the steel door. The door immediately changed back into a brick wall after Lion entered.

"Guess security must be tight here" Gray murmured.

Gray looked around and tried to find a good hiding spot. Since the alley was so barren, there was nowhere to hide. Gray ended up wandering up and down the street to seem like he was going somewhere. He saw many pups and dogs enter the alley and all of them had a charm. Some gave Gray a quick look, then looked away after they noticed he did not have a charm. After a few rounds, Gray got tired and decided to wait out on the sidewalk. After a few minutes, a pitch black pup walked right into Gray.

"Hey, watch it!" Gray growled.

"Hmf, your fault for standing in my way mutt!" the black pup retorted.

"Are you trying to look for a fight? I'll tear you limb from limb if that's the case" Gray growled.

"Hah, you're not worth my time and I don't want to get my paws dirty. What are you doing here anyways? You have no charm, you don't belong here" the black pup scoffed and walked into the alley.

Gray growled and watched as the black pup walked into the club. At that moment, he saw Lion come back with another dog with a pure white coat of fur.

"Well, I found you someone who can give you a charm, just didn't think it would be one of the owners" Lion told Gray.

"Well who the one who wanted a charm, is it you little pup?" the white dog asked.

"Yes it is, sir. I would love to get a charm" Gray replied.

The white pup glanced at Gray and froze. He looked at Gray, then at Lion, then back at Gray. He stood there for a second until he smiled and replied.

"I see, well your friend here most likely knows how you can set up your charm, so I'll give you one and I'll be on my way" the white dog smiled.

The white pup came up to Gray and handed him a charm. It glowed brightly in Gray's paw. Gray was about to pull his paw back when the white pup pulled him in instead.

"And meet me tomorrow in the club. I need to ask you a few questions" the white dog whispered.

"O-Ok" Gray stuttered.

The white dog set Gray down and went back into the club. Lion walked up to Gray and beckoned him to follow him to get back to the alley. Along the way, Lion asked Gray a few questions.

"Man, he was so nice to you, he wasn't that kind when I walked up to him, and what was the deal when he pulled you in, did he threaten you? What did he tell you?" Lion questioned.

"Nothing important, he just told me if I had any trouble, I could go ask him how to fix the issue" Gray lied.

"Huh, well we better get back to set up the charm" Lion dismissed.

Gray and Lion got back to the alley and found Cheetah and Tiger in a deep sleep on the floor. Lion smiled at his sleeping brothers and started to help Gray set up his charm.

"Ok, first, you need to put on the charm. When you do, imagine the fur color and design in your head. The charm will sense it and turn you into that picture. If you want to change it, then just keep imagining what you want to look like. Once you take it off, it will confirm your new look and you won't be able to change it" Lion explained.

Gray gulped and nodded. He closed his eyes and imagined what he wanted to look like. He imagined a pup with a crimson fur color with a cream belly and chest fur. This new pup also had a faint swirl design that was a slight lighter than the crimson. On the head, there were three lines on a darker crimson down the muzzle and the top of the head, fading out to the lighter crimson on the neck. Lastly, he imagined a bright blue eye color to pair with the red. Gray opened his eyes and looked down. He saw exactly what he thought of and was satisfied and took off his charm.

"That was so good, I didn't you know you had that kind of imagination" Lion complimented, clearly impressed.

"I guess, It was just what I wanted to be instead of a gray for my own reasons" Gray replied sheepishly.

"Well what are you going to name him?" Lion asked.

"How about Blaze?" Gray suggested

"Blaze is taken already by like six other pups" Lion said.

"Wow, well then, how about Inferno?" Gray tried again.

"Inferno is fine, that's pretty good actually. Hey, why don't we surprise Cheetah and Tiger when they wake up. Sleep with your charm on and see how they react when they wake up." Lion smiled deviously.

Gray agreed and slept next to Cheetah with his charm on. The next morning, Gray woke up by a sharp pain in his side. Gray jolted awake and growled at the attacker.

"Who the heck are you" Tiger growled.

Gray saw Cheetah ready to run and Tiger ready to fight. Gray decided to mess around with the two confused pups for a few more minutes.

"The name's Inferno. This is a nice alley, I think I'm gonna take it!" Gray joked.

"Oh I don't think so, Cheetah, get him! Plan A!" Tiger shouted.

Cheetah started to circle around Gray. Gray smirked and bashed right into Cheetah. Cheetah banged right into the wall and cursed.

"Where's Gray when you need him" Cheetah grimaced.

"Gray, huh? Well I ki-"Gray started.

"Ok Gray, that's too much" Lion interrupted.

"You think so?" Gray replied.

"Wait, what's going on he- oh wait the charm last night, right" Cheetah said after facepalming **(Facepalming? Facepawing? I don't know)**.

"Oh, so this is Gray? Nice disguise, I like it!" Tiger smiled.

"Yup! I'm ready to go to the club now!" Gray said happily.

"Well, let's go then!" the trio replied.

The four pups walked back to the same alley that Lion took Gray to the previous night. This time, Gray tried his charm and touched the wall. The wall, just like when Lion touched it, started to morph and the steel door appeared. Gray was still amazed at the steel door and the trio led him into the club. The door shut behind them and the brick wall once again reformed. Gray's newly acquired charm, once entering, activated and turned into his new identity Inferno. Like him, Tiger, Cheetah and Lion turned into their respective identities.

"Ok Inferno, we can't have you enter without anyone knowing because it would be too obvious who you are if others found out a new pup had just joined a gang, so we are going to act out a scenario. Follow me and pretend to be shy, yet seem like you know me and have been here for a long time. I'll introduce you to my friends and you don't need to say a single word" Tiger told Gray.

Gray nodded and entered. He looked back at Cheetah and Lion who were already running to their pals at the club and started to chat. Gray looked back at Tiger who was looking around for his buddies too. Gray followed Tiger's instructions and pretended to avoid eye contact, occasionally talking to Tiger so it seemed they were friends. Gray took a few glances at the surrounding area they were in. There were many groups of dogs and pups together, all smiling and laughing together. The walls were wooden with signs of slight molding on them. There were many doors leading to rooms that groups could enter and chat about private topics that they didn't want other to hear about, but the most noticeable thing in the club was the giant screen at the front of the club with rankings of gangs and pups or dogs. Gray noticed that the Feline Fiends were on the list at number six, while Tiger was on the pup rankings at number 10. Tiger finally entered a group of dogs and all the dogs greeted him with "hello" and "how ya doing". Then they noticed Gray in the back who shrunk himself down.

"Hey, who's the pup in the back with the wild fur color?" a massive husky asked.

"He's my long time friend Inferno. He's a bit shy to meet other dogs. Heck, when he walked up to me a few months back, he couldn't even speak right. He stumbled on every word!" Tiger joked.

The other dogs laughed and greeted Gray with the same greetings they said to Tiger.

"So, you've been here for a few, eh? Why don't you tell us about yourself" another dog asked.

"Well, as you know, my name's Inferno, and um, I don't really like to talk to other pups very much" Gray tried.

"Well, since you're part of us now, we're going to change that. By the end of the week, you won't be as shy as you are now" the husky said smiling. "The name's Frostbite by the way. That dog over there is Fury and the red furred dog right over there is Blaze. Now, why don't we find some other pups to talk to. We could go visit Vortex, or we could see if Silver is willing to talk. Anyone you prefer Inferno?" Frostbite asked.

"Actually, do you know where that white furred owner is? I kinda want to uh, thank him for the charm" Gray replied.

"Crash? Are you sure? He's really hard to find, especially out in the open here where everyone can see him. He doesn't usually come out very often. I'm surprised that you were able to get a charm from him. We could try, but I don't know if we can find him" Frostbite answered.

The group took off and looked for Crash. Gray scanned the scene but couldn't find Crash anywhere here. They walked around for a bit until Gray saw a white pup enter the club through a back door next to the screen. Gray was overjoyed and immediately ran over, but it was no easy task. Gray kept of bumping into other dogs and pups and stepped on multiple paws, but no one seemed to care. Finally, Gray reached Crash and stood right in front of him.

"Sorry, do I know you?" Crash asked.

"I'm the pup you gave the charm to yesterday, remember? You wanted me to see you" Gray responded.

Crash immediately pulled Gray into the back and took off Gray's charm. Gray turned back into his regular look and Crash smiled at him.

"So it is you. I have a few things I would like to ask you. By any chance did you bring your necklace?" Crash asked.

"Yea, I did, why?" Gray asked curiously.

"I could sense that you aren't any normal pup. You have a celestial vibe radiating off of you, but you don't look like an angel. The necklace I recognize as one of the queen's prized possessions and was curious on why you have it" Crash explained.

"Wait, you're from the heavens too?" Gray asked.

"Yes I am, I was the queen's most loyal general and she granted me the ability to come down to earth to face evil wherever it may lurk" Crash replied.

" Huh, well, I'm the queen's son and I came down from up there because, well, because of my fur color. I recently found out that I'm cursed with good and evil and mother gave me her necklace to overpower the darkness inside me" Gray answered.

"So you are a deviled god. I've never seen or met one, but the myths are true. So does that mean your father is the devil?" Crash asked again.

"Unfortunately yes" Gray responded.

"I knew the king shouldn't have fought with the devil. On top of that, I should have helped him" Crash cursed. "Well, be careful. There are many pups and dogs who are loyal to the devil and would love to get their paws on that necklace of yours. Keep an eye out for those pups and I'll deal with them. Just let me know who they are."

Gray nodded and Crash dismissed him from the back room. Gray put back on his necklace and tried to find Tiger again. He couldn't find Tiger, but he did spot Cheetah. Gray was just about to head over until an announcement was made.

"Attention all dogs and pups, I would like to make a few announcements. First of all, it has been brought to our attention that the Feline Fiends had been found by the police. We have reasons to believe that a gang had ratted them out and they are no longer welcome to the club. If we find out that you are responsible, then you will be kicked out and banned permanently. Secondly, there are 3 new alley dogs and pups that have join a gang. Two of the three dogs have given us their name which are Spike and Connor, both of them have joined the Mean Dogs gang while the third pup is still unknown. All we know about him is that he has a coat of gray fur and is now apart of the Feline Fiends. This will surely increase the reputation of the Feline Fiends and will rise up higher than before" The announcer announced.

Everyone was murmuring about the new pup and who it could be and Gray didn't feel like staying any longer, so he made his way over to the door. Gray touched the wall and the door morphed again and left. Gray started to walk back to the alley when he heard two familiar voices. He quickly dove behind a trash can and listened.

"Aww, is the poor police pup defenseless without backup and his gear? Well let me tell you this, us alley pups don't need equipment. We have everything right at our claw tips. Now, since you're a police pup, I'm gonna have to kill ya" the voice spoke mockingly.

"No you're not. Just because I don't have any of my gear, it doesn't mean I can't fight!" the second voice spoke.

Gray took a peak at what was going on. He saw Roger facing off against the black pup that bumped into him last night. Gray growled, but decided to wait to see what would happen. Gray watched as Roger charged at the black pup and the black pup took it like it was nothing. Surprised, Roger back away, rubbing the part that made contact with the black pup.

"That was weak. I could snap you in half if I wanted to. Any last words before I kill you?" the black pup asked deviously.

"I'll never let you kill me!" Roger responded and dashed in the other direction.

Gray thought that Roger would get away, but suddenly, the black pup disappeared right into the ground and reappeared in front of Roger. Gray watched in amazement and quickly yanked on his necklace chain to scan the black pup. He scanned the black pup and found out that he had the power to control shadows, so anywhere that was dark and shadowy, he was able to use it to his advantage.

"Did you really think you could get away? In the night, you can never run away from me!" the black pup stated.

The black pup readied an attack and was just about to claw at Roger when Gray couldn't take it any longer and jumped out to bash the black pup into the wall. The black pup was taken by surprise and was blown back a few feet. He panted and looked up at his attacker with an enraged look.

"Hah, it's you, you little, pathetic mutt. Are you helping an officer now? You know it's against the code of alley dogs to help an officer" the black pup said in between pants.

"I know it is, but, it isn't against the code to fight another alley pup" Gray responded.

"True, but even so, you can't beat me! What's your name little mutt?" the black pup asked.

"It's Gray, what about you?" Gray growled back.

"It's Shadow. Well Gray, are you ready to die?" Shadow smirked.

"I'd like to see you try!" Gray retorted back.

After the two finished insulting each other, the two pups started to fight. Shadow was fast and nimble, but Gray could predict all the attacks Shadow threw at him. Gray pretended to yawn at Shadow, showing him that his attack were weak. Shadow saw this and started to use his power. He dove into the shadows and landed a few solid hits on Gray. Gray knew that his power allowed him to vanish and reappear anywhere he pleased at night, so Gray got into a defensive stance. All gray needed was Shadow to appear in his line of sight. Finally after a few jabs and punches, Shadow reappeared in front of Gray. Gray smiled and froze Shadow right where he stood.

"What the? Why can't I move!" Shadow questioned.

"Did you think it would be enough to use your power to defeat me? Well let me tell you this. I can be just as annoying as you" Gray replied.

Gray dove into the shadows just like Shadow did and appeared behind Shadow. Shadow, who was unable to look back, had a surprised expression and felt massive pain in his side. He yelped in pain and took another few hits from Gray. Shadow started to breathe heavily again and Gray continued for a few more jabs until Shadow couldn't take anymore.

"Ok, ok! You win! I surrender. You can do whatever you want to that stupid officer" Shadow said.

"Good, now leave" Gray said plainly.

Gray unfroze Shadow and he dove immediately into the shadows where Gray assumed that he was gone. After a little while, Gray walked up to Roger.

Gray offered a paw to help Roger up while Roger ducked for cover. After seeing Gray wasn't going to kill him, he got up with Gray's help.

"Are you ok?" Gray asked Roger.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you. Are you going to kill me like Shadow was?" Roger asked as he eyed Gray suspiciously.

"No, I wouldn't kill you, not even if I was threatened to, I don't kill pups just for the heck of it" Gray responded.

Roger eyed Gray for a few more seconds until he lightened up a bit.

"You're not like the alley pups, are you. You don't have the killer instinct like the others have" Roger questioned.

"To be honest, I don't know what I should do. I can't go back to where I was, not like I wanted to, but I don't know what to do here" Gray admitted.

"Why don't you join the police force? Do some good instead of breaking the law" Roger suggested

"I don't know, The Feline Fiends need me. I can't just leave them to join the police" Gray responded.

"Well, that's too bad. We could've used someone like you. Heh, then there's me who can't fight for himself even if I tried. I'm such a bad future father and a horrible role model" Roger sighed.

"Future father? You have a pup?" Gray questioned, intrigued.

"Yea, well, my wife is expecting puppies soon. I would be with her, but my job requires me to be at work at all times" Roger replied. "Anyways, that's my life story. You better run along now. I'll let you off with a warning because you helped me. Next time I'll catch you!"

"Yea, see ya old timer!" Gray joked as he left for the alley.

Roger smiled and waved goodbye. After a few more minutes of walking, Gray reached the alley. Gray was tired after the club experience and the fight with Shadow, so Gray decided to sleep. He hoped that the trio would come back soon since he was sleeping out in the open and would be easily murdered in his sleep. Soon enough though, Gray fell into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, in a alley somewhere on the other side of town, Shadow was hiding behind a dumpster tending his wounds. After dealing with his wounds, he pulled out his own necklace made out of a dark crystal and, after a few incantations, a black figure hologram appeared in front of Shadow.

"You've called, my dearest child?" the black figure asked.

"Yes I have father, and I have news for you. I finally found it, the necklace" Shadow told the figure.

"Really, I'm pleased to hear. Did you take it from the user? You have more than enough power to steal it" the figure questioned, getting excited.

"That's the thing, I couldn't beat him. He was too strong" Shadow spoke.

"What?! You were defeated? Who is this pup that possesses this necklace?" the shadowy figure asked, enraged.

"It was a gray pup with light blue eyes" Shadow responded.

The shadowy figure paused for a few seconds to think about what his son just told him.

"Ah, well then, that's no surprise. I'll come and visit tomorrow night. Meet me in the alley that we always meet at. That night, we are going to meet my other, oh how do I say it, ah right, my other 'special' son" the shadowy figure said maliciously.

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 **Well, that's the end of the chapter. The next chapter should be pretty active. There are a few hidden foreshadowing I have done in the story, some are more obvious than others, but congratulations to you if you can find them and know what they mean in the future. Anyways, like always, spelling, grammar, thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Nothing really to comment about, so on to chapter 10!**

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Gray woke up with someone poking his side. Gray snapped open his eyes and immediately jumped up to attack. Gray looked at the attacker and realized that it was Lion poking at his side.

"Oh, thank the heavens that you aren't dead. Why were you sleeping out here where you could literally be killed?" Lion questioned.

"This alley is pretty empty, there's nowhere else to sleep" Gray argued.

"Uh, actually there is. We forgot to tell you yesterday, but this was actually our first alley we ever lived in. It was just as empty as before, so we carved out a hidden room in the bricks in the back. We checked it yesterday and no one has even touched it. Unfortunately, all the food we stashed away in there had all rotted away, so we need to get more tomorrow" Cheetah explained. "Anyways, let's not sleep out here and get inside where we can sleep safe and sound."

Gray followed the trio to the back and they pushed up on the wall. Gray watched in amazement as the wall revealed an opening and a spacious room behind it. Gray walked in behind Cheetah and looked around. The walls were made of dirt and no light could get into the room. Gray saw a pile of blackened fruits and meats in the back corner of the room, probably a few months old Gray deduced. Gray noticed the three pups had moved to the other back corner to sleep, and Gray joined them. Since he had already slept for a while, Gray wasn't as tired as before, and couldn't fall asleep.

"Still awake?" Tiger asked suddenly.

"Yea, how'd you know?" Gray replied.

"Easy, you snore when you sleep. You should really get that checked" Tiger joked.

"Heh, did I keep you guys awake then?" Gray questioned.

"Well, for the first few hours, yea, but we all fell asleep eventually" Tiger responded. "Anyways, when did you leave?"

"I left after the announcement was made about the ratters and the new members" Gray replied.

"Really? You left right at the wrong moment. After the announcement, there was a big tournament" Tiger said.

"Tournament? What's that for?" Gray questioned again.

"The tournament is a event that is held once every month and it's just a way to see how your paw to paw combat holds up against others. It's really fun, even got to fight Cheetah, of course I won, but it was close" Tiger explained. "You probably would've gotten first."

"Maybe, but paw to paw isn't my best skill. I rely on my powers a lot. Without them, I would be weak" Gray confessed.

"Well, you should try anyways. It's fun, everyone enjoys it, even if you get knocked out in the first round. Maybe next month" Tiger said hopefully.

"Well, don't bet on it" Gray replied.

After Gray's little conversation with Tiger, both of them fell asleep, thankfully Tiger fell asleep before Gray started snoring. In the morning, Lion woke Gray up and told him that they were going to get some supplies, mostly food, but also whatever they find useful.

"Wanna join us for the raid?" Lion asked.

"Uh, sure I guess, is it hard?" Gray asked back.

"Not really if we find an empty alley, but we might have to fight if they come back" Lion answered.

"Well, what's the worst that can happen, let's go!" Gray responded.

Tiger and Cheetah took the lead, keeping themselves hidden as much as possible so they wouldn't encounter any additional tussles they did not want to fight. Lion and Gray followed them in the back, going to the same spots Tiger and Cheetah hop to. Finally, Tiger raised a paw, telling them to stop. He had found an empty alley with a scent of fresh bread.

"They, must've raided a bakery or something recently. Let's go get some for ourselves" Tiger informed.

They made their way into the alley and looked around for the bread they smelled. They checked every single nook and cranny, under every trash can, inside every dumpster until Lion had found the bread hidden away in a crevice in the brick wall. They each took a chunk of bread to eat and after they were done eating, took the rest of the bread to keep. Gray felt bad for taking all the bread that these alley pups went through the trouble of getting, so he left half a loaf behind.

"Dude, you know they stole this too, right? We're just stealing stolen goods" Lion told Gray.

"I know, but I feel bad for taking all of their bread when they probably need it as well" Gray explained.

"You're still too soft. Whatever, but it's coming from your rations, so if you're hungry, you have no one to blame but yourself" Lion responded.

They made their way to their alley, put away the bread inside the hidden room and went out once more to gather more supplies. They had only gathered 3 and a half loaves of bread, which would last at most 4 days. Tiger and Gray led this time, trying to find another alley with food, preferably with some kind of meat. They went around town sniffing at all the entrances of the alleys, trying to find some more food, but all the alleys were either completely empty or had other pups chowing down of their food. The gang was starting to get discouraged at their chances of getting more food until they reached an empty alley with a strong scent of beef.

"Jackpot" Tiger said smiling.

They rushed right into the alley and it wasn't as hard to find the meat as it was to find the bread. The meat was just laying on the dumpster lid, obviously the alley dog who stole it thought that no pup would be able to jump on top to get it, but for the trio, it was as easy as jumping up stairs.

"Now, we got a meal!" Lion said happily.

"With these, we could last the entire month if we split them up wisely" Cheetah thought.

"Well, let's focus on getting back. We still aren't safe yet. The alley pups could still come back" Tiger warned.

The other three pups nodded and started to rush back to their alley. They ignored hiding from other pups as it would take too much time and made a mad dash to their alley. When they got back, however, they were greeted by a giant black dog and what seemed to be his son in the back. They slid to a stop and quickly dove into the alley next to them which thankfully was empty. Gray recognized the pup in the back was Shadow, but the identity of the giant dog up front was a complete mystery. The four pups sat and listened in.

"They're not here, probably out raiding" Shadow cursed.

"No matter," the black dog dismissed, "They'll be back eventually. Wait, there's a scent of bread around here. It's behind this wall."

"No! They're gonna take our bread!" Lion panicked.

"The bread is the least of our worries, they found our secret room!" Tiger hissed.

"Wait, there's a scent of meat here as well, around the corner" the black dog told Shadow.

They went up and around the corner into the alley that the four pups were camping in. Shadow peeked around the corner and saw the four pups staring right back at him.

"Dad! Dad! They're here!" Shadow called.

"Our cover's been blown, let's fight!" Tiger commanded.

"Well well well, look who it is, The Feline Fiends and Gray. Nice to meet you" the giant black dog greeted.

Gray growled and yanked on the necklace around his neck. His power started to flow back into him and scanned the black dog.

"Pups, this dog is too strong for you three. Deal with Shadow, I'll fight the big one" Gray commanded.

The trio nodded and dove right at Shadow. Shadow smiled and jumped right into the shadows of the unsuspecting pups. Tiger was startled and swiped at the air where Shadow once stood. Shadow suddenly jump right under Tiger and knocked him into the air. Tiger flinched and fell on his side, hard. Cheetah, however, was ready. He ran up to Shadow and bashed at him with full force, just like how Gray did it to him on multiple occasions. Shadow flew back a few feet and coughed. It was obvious to the trio that he had no stamina, and relied on a fast and easy fight. He dove into the shadows of the alley and the trio braced for impact. This time, he reappeared next to Lion and swiped at him, leaving a giant claw mark in his side. Lion yelped in pain as he tried to swipe back at Shadow, but missed as he was already back into the shadows.

Meanwhile, Gray scanned the black dog and tried to copy his powers. Unlike every other time he tried, however, he could not copy his powers. His powers were too strong, and even Gray couldn't precisely identify what it was. Gray, for the first time in his life, had to fight blind. Gray tried to control the black pup, but every time, he could not get him to move and even started to hurt himself.

"Trying to control me? Well, I know all about your power. It's will based, and I have a stronger will than you, so you can't control me, even with your heavenly powers" the black dog sneered.

"You know? How?" Gray growled back.

"I know more than you think" The black dog replied. "Now it's my turn."

The black dog charged right up to Gray and hit him with a punch in his chest. This blew Gray off his feet and fell on his back. Gray quickly got back up to face the black dog. Without any power to copy and his own not working, he was helpless. Gray tried once more with his manipulation and the black dog smiled and stood there. This time, Gray focused and tried as hard as he could. His chain started to glow a brighter blue and the black pup was slowly lifted up into the air. The black dog, surprised, struggled to get out of Gray's grip. After a few seconds of helpless struggling, he conjured up a black ball of energy and shot it right at Gray. Gray lost focus and jumped out of the way. The impact of the ball was strong and left a huge crater in the ground.

"Ok, this is enough. Shadow, let's switch. I have something to say to the Feline Fiends" the black dog told his son.

Gray tried to stop the black dog reach his friends, but was immediately greeted by Shadow right up in his face and a punch on the side of his head. Gray had to deal with Shadow before he could reach his friends.

"So, it looks like my son did a number on you two" the black dog commented.

In the time Gray fought with him, Shadow had dealt a number of blows to the trio and the only one left standing was Lion once again.

"Seems you're the only one left standing Lion. I know you've been hanging out with Shadow a lot for the past few months in the club, always complaining how you have no power while your brothers do, and how you wish that you could receive powers from the heavens, but when my son asked you if you wanted powers, you declined. So I'll offer you this. Join me and my son, and I, in return, will grant you powers beyond your wildest imagination, enough to take down your brothers without even batting an eye" the black dog proposed.

Cheetah and Lion were eyeing Lion. They were surprised that he would complain about his current state, how he was jealous that they had powers, but he did not. They never thought that Lion felt left out, no power, helpless and weak as Tiger and Cheetah did all the fighting.

"What if I don't accept?" Lion questioned.

"Then it's you and your brothers' life" the black dog grinned demonically.

Lion looked at Tiger and Cheetah, then at Gray who was still fighting Shadow, and then finally back at the black dog and responded.

"I know I complained a lot, most of it was to vent out the anger I felt and the helplessness of me watching my brothers fight, but I never actually thought there was actually a way to get powers. I thought my friend was lying, but he isn't, is he? You could give me powers, I could be as powerful as my brothers, but I would have to leave them" Lion contemplated.

"To kill them is your choice, but they do not have to leave you. They can also join us with newfound abilities as well" the black dog bargained.

"You see, having powers would be nice, but it seems wrong. Our family, our mom and dad named us by recognizing our strengths that we would one day achieve. Our dad was the smartest, our mom was the sliest, Cheetah, the fastest, and Tiger, the strongest. They knew they would be what they are today, but then there was me, Lion. Mom and dad realized that I could not achieve the high standards as my brothers, so they gave me the name of Lion, one that does not need any special power to accomplish and still be able to live up to my name. They hoped I would one day be the proudest and the bravest. It would be wrong of me to accept your offer, so I will decline your offer" Lion finished.

"Very well. Then it's you and your brother's life. Any last words?" the black dog growled.

"If I will die, then I will die protecting my brothers. I will not hesitate and in doing so, will have achieved the right of my name. Do your worst!" Lion countered.

The black dog sneered and charged right at Lion. Lion closed his eyes and braced for impact. He felt a touch on his chest, but no more. He opened his eyes and saw the black dog frozen right in front of him. He looked at Gray, whose eyes were glowing brightly and took a few steps back. The black dog growled and looked at Gray, seeing that his son was lying on the ground, bleeding out.

"You are stronger than I anticipated. It doesn't matter. I will kill you and your friends, and all your power will be mine!" the black dog howled.

Gray used all his might and moved the dog back against the wall. Gray immediately jumped in front of Lion and unfroze the dog as it was very energy consuming. The black dog attempted to charge at Gray, but Gray was able to force him back again. The black dog growled, stood there and thought. He then started to charge at Cheetah and Tiger. Gray growled and jumped in front of Tiger and Cheetah, anticipating attack, but anticipation was exactly what the black dog needed and was Gray's mistake. The black dog had stopped mid charge and at that moment Gray realized what he had done. He had left Lion out in the open. Gray tried to push the dog back, but was unable to conjure up enough energy. The black dog charged at Lion and bashed into him with full force. Lion flew across the alley and hit a wall with such a hard impact that it left a massive indent in the wall. Lion coughed up blood and his eyes were closed. It was obvious that his spine was broken and had multiple broken cursed at his stupidity and rushed over to Lion who was barely breathing.

"No, no, no! I'm so stupid! Lion! Don't die!" Gray pleaded.

"I'm done for. Even if I survived, my spine is broken, I can't go on. Take care of my brothers, ok? Protect them for me" Lion told Gray.

"I, I can't. I won't let you die!" Gray cried.

"I don't have much time left. Do me a favor, return my charm to the club. They will know what happened" Lion told Gray.

"I, I, will, I promise, and I will protect your brothers" Gray answered finally.

Lion smiled and died smiling, knowing his brothers will be safe. Gray cried and Cheetah and Tiger were watching, also crying. Gray lied next to Lion's body for a few seconds and his chain turned from a blue to a dark crimson red. Gray stood up and turned around to face the black dog. Gray felt something he never felt before, Gray felt rage. His eyes were a deep shade of red and growled at the black dog. He scanned the dog once more and was able to determine his power. The dog's power was just darkness, straight up darkness. Gray copied the power and fired an energy ball at the dog. The black dog was surprised at the sudden burst of energy and countered it by trying to knock it back. The energy ball did not bounce back, instead it hit the dog right in the chest and was knocked back a few inches. He was breathing hard because of the attack and his own attacks.

"How did you copy my power, it's impossible!" the black dog growled.

"It's none of your business, all I care about is killing you!" Gray responded in a harsh tone.

"Hmf, then wait until next time. I won't be staying" the black dog told Gray and took Shadow with him.

"Coward!" Gray shouted, then walked back to Cheetah and Tiger.

They were huddled against Lion, crying on his fur. Their eyes were red from crying and Tiger was praying that is was just a dream. Gray saw them and sat down right beside them, crying at Lion's death. Gray's necklace turned back into a chain and after a few minutes of crying, Tiger and Cheetah carried their dead brother out to a park just around the corner. Tiger dug a small hole for Lion and they placed him into the hole. Before burying him, Cheetah had a few more remarks.

"Tiger, if your up there, I hope you are resting in peace with Gray's friends. You were a great brother, and even though you had no power, you were still the strongest out of all of us, and your death will never be forgotten. With a death of a member, a brother, we send you off with the blessings of all the noble alley dogs" Cheetah lamented.

With that, Tiger buried Lion and patted the earth down, making sure that it was well hidden. The Feline Fiends, now down to three members, walked back to their alley and sat around, no one talking to each other.

"We need to go to the club, notify them on what happened" Cheetah suggested finally.

"Yes we do, Gray, take Lion's charm and give it back to them" Tiger told Gray.

Gray nodded and grabbed Lion's charm. They went straight to the club and the tree pups put on their own charm. After they entered, Gray went to the front of the club near the giant screen and conveniently found Crash standing next to the screen.

"Hey, what's up?" Crash asked.

Gray said nothing and gave Crash the charm.

"Oh no, what happened? The Feline Fiends are a strong bunch, how did one of you die?" Crash asked, concerned.

"There was an attack, to be more specific, it was from a devil. We were able to fend him off, but we got off lucky. Lion wasn't, however" Gray explained.

"A devil, huh? Well, what did he look like?" Crash pushed.

"He was a giant dog with pitch black fur and red eyes" Gray described.

"That doesn't help much" Crash said.

"He had a son named…" Gray started.

"Wait, a son? No devil have sons, unless," Crash started until his eyes widened. "No, it can't be, The Devil is here? That's not good. We can't fight him alone, but no one stands a chance. Not even the king could defeat him. He must be after your mother's charm. Gray, here's what I want you to do. If you ever get cornered by him, I want you to crush the centerpiece of the necklace. The necklace loses its power once it's crushed and the power will go to you. Then, you can fight back."

"O-ok, I will. Wait, d-does that mean he's my father?" Gray stuttered.

"Unfortunately, yes it does" Crash responded. "We need to notify the club about Lion's death, come on up" Crash told Gray.

They walked up a set of stairs to a booth where announcements were made. Crash made his way up into the booth and started the announcement.

"Attention everyone, I'm here to announce a death of an alley pup. The pup that was killed was Lion from the Feline Fiends" Crash started.

Everyone down in the club had gone silent. The last time a high tier pup that got killed was almost 4 years ago and it was because he got food poisoning, so this was big news.

"Like tradition, we will announce who they were as a member of the club so the ones who were there beside him and shared laughs with him can also remember the times you had. This pup's identity was Gray" Crash announced. "In other news, there is a dangerous dog out there. Please be careful while raiding, this is a giant dog with a pitch black fur coat. Avoid him at all costs. Do not engage with him. If you ever find him, please tell us the whereabouts. This is Crash with the end of the announcements, Thank you."

Gray followed Crash out and went off to find Tiger. Tiger was still in pain, and his face showed it off. The usual activeness in the club was no longer there, it gave of a worried vibe and there were hardly any laughs heard at all. Frostbite was also feeling sorrow as he knew Lion when he was Gray.

"Man, I never thought that Gray was my friend. He was always to nice and caring, not like the Lion I thought he was" was Frostbite's remark.

Gray couldn't stand the tension in the club any longer, so he left. Gray was almost back to the alley until he realized that The Devil was not only a threat for the alley dogs, but also a threat to the police force. He needed to warn Roger about what was happening. Gray went to the police department and put on his charm to be Inferno. As he entered, he saw an attendant at a desk typing away at his computer.

"Hello there, how may I help you?" the attendant asked Inferno.

"Uh, hi, I would like to speak to Roger, I have something I would like to say to him" Inferno asked back.

"Roger, huh? Well, he's in the back, but I'm not sure if he will answer. He's still busy planning on how to catch Gray" the attendant responded.

"You have to try, it's very important" Inferno pleaded.

"Well, if it's that big, then I'll try" the attendant replied.

The attendant called Roger and a familiar voice responded. The attendant notified that Inferno was there and had something important to tell him. Roger growled slightly and told him that he would be there in a bit. After a while, Roger walked up to the entrance and saw Inferno.

"What do you have to tell me that's so important?" Roger asked impatiently.

"Can we talk somewhere else? I don't like how open it is" Inferno replied.

"Fine, we can go to one of the back rooms. Come on, let's go" Roger growled.

After arriving into the back room, Inferno took off his identity charm and revealed himself.

"Gray? What are you doing here? You are a criminal, you can't just walk in here!" Roger hissed.

"I need to tell you something, there's a dog out on the loose and he is powerful, a black dog with red eyes. He can do insane amounts of damage and I wanted to notify you about him" Gray explained.

"I see, I will, thanks" Roger said.

Gray smiled and put back on his charm.

"Wait, before you go, I wanted to say that my, um, my son is going to be born in a few days and I was hoping you would be there for the party. I trust you, so I hope you will" Roger asked.

"I will consider it, thanks for inviting me" Inferno responded.

Roger nodded and Inferno left the police building to go back to the alley. In the next few days, there have been multiple deaths by The Devil, clearly they didn't listen to Crash's warning. Some of them were high tiers that thought they could take on The Devil alone and ended up losing. This pushed Tiger up to number five, but Tiger felt bad for getting so high because it felt wrong. The club soon was put under high security and the owners had casted a strong force to prevent all use of violence and magic in the club. Then one day, a very, very grave announcement was made. One of the owners had encountered The Devil and had tried to fight. The Devil was too strong for him and ended up killing him. This news was even bigger than Lion's death because the owners were the highest tier, the strongest and if The Devil was strong enough to kill one of them, it frightened everyone. Eventually, pups stopped coming to the club, too afraid to leave their alleys. There were no raids, no tussles, no fighting. The only ones who dared go to the club were the high tiers. At the club, many of the high tiers ended up revealing who they were and decided to team up to fight The Devil. They created a gang of the first ranking, second ranking, fourth ranking, sixth ranking and eighth ranking pups on the leader boards and their gangs and plotted every day in one of the back rooms on how to kill The Devil. Eventually, they had executed their plan and tried to take down the devil. That day was the same day that Tiger reached number two. Every pup was scared out of their wits. Even the police saw a lower rate of crime and were also starting to get concerned. They had their own casualties by The Devil, but he tended to stray away from the police.

Tiger, Cheetah and Gray sat around their alley, most of the time hiding inside the secret room. Thankfully they had the meat they took and was able to ration it out. It also helped that there was one less mouth to feed, Cheetah admitted, but the pain of losing a brother was still there.

"We need to kill The Devil, he's been terrorizing the whole community" Tiger proposed.

"Tiger, if five of the top pups and their gangs were defeated, then I don't think we have a chance, heck, I'm now currently number five" Cheetah responded.

"But we have Gray, he almost defeated him, we need to team up with someone and we can defeat him!" Tiger pushed.

"I don't know, none of us are feeling ready to battle after Lion died, and if we try now, we will most certainly die" Cheetah responded again.

"I would much rather die and join Lion than to stay here and hide like a coward. We need to go fight!" Lion tried again.

"Well, if you can find someone to fight with, be my guest. We will stay back until then" Cheetah said, depressed.

At this moment, they heard paw steps entering their alley. They stopped talking and listened. They assumed it was The Devil coming back to finish them off until the stranger spoke.

"Hello? Anyone here still?" A familiar voice asked.

"Yes! Yes there is Crash!" Tiger responded.

"Oh, thank the queen, I've been looking for you pups. We can't have The Devil rule over us, and he's clearly looking for the necklace and all the pups that have sacrificed themselves are just mere obstacles for him. We need to end this. Gray, Cheetah, Tiger, will you join me in taking him down?" Crash asked.

"Of course we will!" Tiger answered.

Cheetah thought about it, then smiled and agreed and Gray agreed as well. They left the alley and started to find The Devil. They had discussed a plan beforehand in the alley and were hoping that the plan will be successful. It was a fool proof plan where few situations would cause the plan to go off course. First, they needed to find The Devil. After aimlessly wandering around, they ran into Roger in his vehicle scouting the area.

"Hey, you, paws up- oh what's the point. There's been a huge drop in crime and sightings, where is everyone?" Roger asked.

"They've been killed police dog" Crash growled back.

"Is it the same pup Gray warned me about?" Roger questioned.

The four pups glared at Gray with a cold stare.

"Probably was. Gray, why did you warn the police? They can deal with their own problems" Tiger asked Gray.

"The Devil is a dangerous dog, the police deserved to be warned, they are pups with lives like us" Gray countered.

"Well, thanks to Gray, we've survived longer than we should've and saved many more lives of innocent citizens if Gray never warned us" Roger added.

"Wait, you've survived his attacks? How?" Crash asked, intrigued.

"We have a giant force, we could outnumber him, but we could never actually hurt him" Roger explained.

"Well, we can hurt to him, but we don't have the numbers to overpower him though. Do you think we could team up?" Crash suggested.

"If it's to protect the city, then yes, we will" Roger agreed.

"Well, well, well, I finally found you Gray," a demonic voice spoke "It's time to give me the necklace, or I'm taking it from you!"

* * *

 **So, after writing this, I realized that I may have planned too much, so I will need to split it off into 2 parts. Since I'm on a roll, I will most likely type up the next one right after this one. The action I said last chapter will come next chapter. Anyways, Like always, comment, grammar, thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Time for the last chapter in Gray's story, so let's finish it up, shall we? On to chapter 11!**

* * *

"Well, it's now or never, let's show him what we're made of!" Crash declared.

"Roger to all other officers, come down to the north end of the city immediately, we have some business to finish up!" Roger called on his radio.

"Well now, two against many isn't really fair, is it?" The Devil reacted, "But, I do love a challenge, so, bring it on."

Gray, Tiger, Cheetah and Crash got into attack stances, ready to attack The Devil at any time. Roger waited in the back for his backup to arrive. Gray made the first move by trying to copy and control The Devil, but was unsuccessful. This time, Gray noticed, that he was much stronger and had a huge aura of darkness surrounding him. The Devil noticed Gray's reaction and smiled, knowing that he knew they stood no chance. Crash, who was completely oblivious why he was smiling, charged at The Devil. The Devil, who was prepared, just stood there and continued to smile. Crash almost got to The Devil until he was blown back by an invisible force. Crash landed on his paws, startled, and glared at The Devil, who was still just standing and smiling. Suddenly, they heard a cry.

"Ahhh! What the heck!" Roger screamed.

Cheetah and Tiger turned back and saw Shadow behind them with Roger in his paws.

"Don't worry, we'll help!" Tiger and Cheetah said in unison.

Cheetah ran right over and bashed into Shadow, knocking Roger out of his grip. After the hit, Shadow dove into the shadows to avoid any more attacks. Gray kept his eyes on The Devil, who had just made his first move. He conjured up a dark energy ball and threw it at Gray. Gray jumped out of the path of the energy ball, but the shock wave blew Gray off his feet. Gray also noted that his energy balls were much bigger than the last time he fought, making him an even bigger threat. Gray quickly got into his feet and tried to think of a plan. Without being able to copy The Devil's power, he was pretty much a sitting duck. Then he realized that he didn't have to copy The Devil's power, but he could copy the others. Gray turned around and scanned the area around him. He copied Tiger's strength, Cheetah's speed and even Shadow's shadow power. Gray turned back with his newfound powers and started attacking The Devil. With the all the powers he had, Gray was able to combine all the powers together and use one ability to help another. Gray dove into the shadows with Shadow's power and was able to move about in the shadows very quickly by using Cheetah's power. Gray, after a mere second, reappeared under The Devil and jumped out to attack him underneath using Tiger's strength. The Devil, however, was anticipating it and jumped to the side. In return, he made a shadow arrow appear and launched it at Gray. Gray dove into the shadows, but realized that his arrows pierced the shadows and just missed Gray's face.

"Hey, two can play that game!" Crash yelled.

Gray jumped back out of the shadows and looked at Crash. Crash had a layer of energy around him, just like armor and prepped a light arrow to throw at The Devil. The Devil was slightly surprised at the sudden burst of energy from Crash and jumped out of the way of the arrow. Gray tried to scan the power Crash had, but like The Devil, he couldn't identify or copy his power.

"What power do you have Crash?" Gray shouted over to him.

"It's a power that the queen granted me to use against powerful demons. She gave me some of her own power" Crash responded.

"Well, you must be the one she sent down to destroy my kind. You know, I was there when that happened, sad really. I would've gotten rid of her earlier if you didn't go to earth. I would've made you one of my best generals." The Devil replied.

"I would never join you, not then, not now!" Crash responded.

With that remark, Crash made another arrow and threw it at The Devil. The Devil dodged it and noticed that Gray was no longer there. Gray came back up right under The Devil and was able to hit The Devil for once. The punch, however, did nothing and, because Gray was now close to The Devil, made Gray an easy target. The Devil smiled, conjured another dark arrow and shot it right at Gray. Gray tried to jump out of the way, but was pierced right through his back right leg. Gray yelped in pain and looked at the wound. Instead of blood, A blackness was left in the wound. Gray tested his leg and found nothing wrong with it and continued to fight. Gray jumped into the shadows once more and tried something new. He tried maneuvering behind The Devil and attack him there, but The Devil seemed he could track Gray in the shadows and threw multiple arrows at Gray, most of them almost hitting him. Gray was surprised and jumped out of the shadows too early, appearing right in front of The Devil. The Devil was ready and had a energy ball pre-charged, ready to launch at Gray. Gray closed his eyes and was expecting pain, but Crash threw a energy spear right at the ball and it exploded, hurting The Devil and blew Gray back a bit, right out of The Devil's reach.

Meanwhile, Shadow and the duo were trading spots at the upper hand. After a few minutes of observing, Roger noticed that Shadow could only dive into the shadowy areas. Knowing this fact, he used his floodlight and his vehicle lights to illuminate Tiger and Cheetah constantly. Shadow was annoyed because he couldn't get anywhere close to the duo, forcing him to get out of the shadows early to attack. Shadow would jump out occasionally to attack, but after a few attempts, Cheetah was able to run into Shadow and while he was still recovering, Tiger ran up and punched him, causing Shadow to cough up blood. Shadow growled, and dove back into the shadows. Soon enough, Roger heard other vehicles behind him and Roger smiled, knowing it was his police force.

"We came as soon as we could. What do you want us to do sir?" an officer asked.

"I want to you turn on your floodlights and point it at the ground, all of you!" Roger commanded.

The other officers were confused at this strange command, but obeyed it and pointed their floodlights on the ground. Because of this, Shadow's position was now illuminated, forcing him out of the shadows. Shadow was shocked and found he was unable to do anything.

"Men, whatever you do, do not let that pup out of your light!" Roger commanded again.

Shadow now had lights constantly pointed at him, making him completely powerless. He gave his father a look of despair, but realized that his father was busy dealing with Gray and Crash. Shadow turned back around and found Tiger right in his face and punched him right into the wall. With that, Shadow fell unconscious. With Shadow dealt with, They could now focus on The Devil. Gray noticed that his copied shadow ability was now gone and noticed Shadow unconscious. Gray cursed and jumped out of an incoming attack from The Devil. Tiger and Cheetah now joined the fight, but had no idea what The Devil's strengths were. They figured that his powers were similar to Shadow and could deal with him the same way they dealt with Shadow. The whole police force were now also surrounding The Devil with no chance of escape. Gray and Crash tried to attack The Devil, but The Devil dodged every single attack. The Devil seemed to be wearing out, and Gray hoped soon that he would be too tired to fight. Gray looked at his wound from earlier and noticed that it was slowly spreading up his leg and onto his back. Gray also noticed that his own power was slowly diminishing, as if the blackness was sucking out all his power.

"Hmm, it looks like I need to even the playing field" The Devil thought.

"What do you mean?" Crash asked suspiciously.

Instead of responding, The Devil released an energy wave and created a massive barrier around the entire field. The inside immediately filled with darkness and none of the pups could see their paws in front of their faces. There were multiple questions asked from the pups but no one could hear anything other than their own voice. Gray looked around in the darkness, trying to move. He ran in one direction, hoping he would charge out of the barrier, but it seemed as if it went on forever.

"Welcome to my personally created hell!"The Devil announced.

Gray growled and started to run in one direction once more, but it seemed as if he was on a treadmill. Gray stopped after tiring himself out and sat down to rest. He quickly realized that the room was slowly draining his energy and cursed at wasting his energy so early. Gray figured that he would be an easy target and was expecting pain. After a few seconds, he heard multiple screams and yelps around him, most of them were from the police units. Gray was soon completely drained and barely had the energy to get up. Gray suddenly heard a yelp from a pup he did know and it was from Cheetah.

"Don't...hurt….him" Gray gasped.

After Cheetah, he heard Tiger yelp and soon after, Roger. Then, he heard a shatter followed by a thud. Each yelp hurt Gray mentally and felt like he was a failure to his promise to Lion. The room suddenly disappeared and Gray could finally see what was around him. He saw The Devil and Shadow standing there, all refreshed and ready to fight. The room had drained their energy, but had healed the enemy. Gray mustered enough energy to sit up and look at the other pups. He saw all the other officers down on the ground, most of them were unconscious and the ones who were conscious were just like him, breathing heavily, barely able to sit up. He saw Cheetah also on the ground, but had multiple claw marks on his pelt, the most noticeable was the huge gash on his face, running from the top of his muzzle to the chin. Tiger was also clawed up really badly and was bleeding everywhere and, just like his brother, was lying there unconscious. Crash's energy armor was broken and its pieces were scattered all over the floor. Crash had sustained the most amount of damage with a noticeable slash on his throat, dead. After Gray scanned the scene, he realized how lucky he was, but the darkness from the wound in his leg had spread up to his chest and neck.

"Well then, now that your friends are all down, why don't you hand me the necklace?" The Devil asked politely.

Gray growled at The Devil, showing no sign that he would give in. The scene was just enough to make Gray mad once more and his eyes became a deep red.

"Well now, here comes your dark side. I don't think it's going to be a problem" The Devil commented.

Gray scanned The Devil once more, but was still unable to copy his power. Since Tiger and Cheetah were unconscious, he was unable to copy their power and the power of shadow diving would not be useful. Gray got up onto his feet, letting the dark energy consume him to turn it into power he could use. Gray concentrated on the darkness within and soon enough, he had a full coat of black fur. Gray felt something awaken inside, a void inside of him for blood. He growled again at the Devil, this time more ferociously, and jumped at him with amazing speed. The Devil was not phased, however, and dodged the attack.

"You think you can use the darkness against me? I rule over the darkness, I control it, therefore I control you! You stand no chance!" The Devil told Gray.

Gray made no comment and jumped at The Devil again and again, every jump Gray missed and The Devil started to get bored.

"Enough of this, I'm ending you this right now" The Devil said, yawning.

The Devil conjured a massive energy ball and threw it at Gray. Gray took the hit head on, consuming him in the process. Gray felt pain in every inch of fur on his body. After the ball dispersed, Gray was wounded with multiple cuts and gashes, bleeding out everywhere.

"Now, time to take the necklace" Shadow commented.

"No...you're...not" Gray spoke between gasps.

"Well, you have no way of fighting back, do you?" Shadow mocked.

"There's still something I can do" Gray responded.

Gray, using all the rest of his energy, took the necklace and put it in his mouth, the centerpiece between his teeth.

"No! Stop him!" The Devil cried.

Shadow tried to grab the necklace out of Gray's mouth, but Gray had already crushed the necklace. The blue swirl wrapped around Gray and a blue ball formed around Gray. The Devil growled and fired multiple blasts at the ball, hoping it would penetrate it, but all of his shots bounced right off. Gray emerged from the blue ball, but Gray looked different. Instead of the Gray coat of fur, he now had a split of black fur on the right and pure white fur on the left. Gray's eye color was also different, now he had a red eye on the dark side and a light blue eye on the light side. Gray looked at his new form, surprised. Gray also felt a new power that he had never felt before. He felt the same power that his mother had, but also a darkness in him, just like The Devil. The Devil started to growl at Gray.

"If I can't have the queen's power, then no one can!" The Devil declared.

The Devil created another room of darkness around him, trying to surround Gray in darkness. Gray ducked for cover, expecting to be in pitch black once more and attacked out of nowhere, but Gray soon realized that he could see clearly, no sign of darkness anywhere. He could map the movement of The Devil and when he started to attack, Gray was ready. Gray blocked all of The Devil's attacks and The Devil realized that he was no longer draining energy from Gray and Gray was no longer blinded by the darkness he had created.

"You still have darkness in you, I can still control your dark side like before!" The Devil yelled.

"I won't fall, I will protect the world from ever falling into your hands!" Gray howled back.

The Devil made an energy ball once more and threw it at Gray. Gray tried the same and created a tiny energy sphere. The dark energy ball hit Gray right in the chest and knocked Gray back. Gray growled and tried again. He focused on the ball and the ball he created was much bigger than his first attempt, but was nowhere near the size of The Devils. Gray attempted to throw it at The Devil, but he knocked it away as if it was a flea. Gray realized that even though he had a power surge, he still could not control it, and he assumed that powers such as creating an energy ball took time to learn how to conjure one up.

"How pathetic, you still don't know how to use your power, nor will you ever find out!" The Devil called.

Gray cursed and tried to start another ball. Each ball was draining Gray's energy and he could feel himself getting tired out, but he had to try. Gray got to the same size as before, but a sharp pain came from his side. Gray yelped and lost focus, losing the energy ball. He turned and saw Shadow there with his claws stained with blood. Gray looked at his side and there was a huge gash and was bleeding out furiously. Gray glared at Shadow, then back at The Devil, both of them were grinning. Gray knew that he was about to face both of them with a side wound, so he needed to come up with a plan fast. Gray thought, and realized that if Crash had the power of the queen, then maybe he could do the same. Gray concentrated and was able to make a set of energy armor around him. It took much less energy to conjure and Gray was slightly relieved. He needed to get rid of Shadow first so he can focus on facing The Devil, but had no way of fighting Shadow. Shadow dove into the ground and started to move. Gray started to focus once more on making an arrow this time and was successful. He looked around for Shadow and saw Shadow running around underneath him thanks to the darkness inside of him. Shadow reappeared right behind him, but Gray smiled, for he saw where Shadow was going. He spun around and pierced Shadow right in the chest. Shadow fell back, wounded, and clutched his chest. The energy arrow had disintegrated and left a stab wound in Shadow's chest. Shadow was now down and out, leaving The Devil alone. The Devil glared at Shadow, quietly cursing about how stupid his son was. Gray noticed that he was starting to wear out from creating all the energy balls. The Devil created an dark arrow this time, clearly trying to conserve energy and shot it at Gray. Gray countered it with his own arrow. The two arrows collided and created a shock wave, knocking both dogs back a few inches. Both dogs were panting hard yet none of them seemed to be willing surrender. Gray charged at The Devil, claws out and ready to cut into The Devil's fur and The Devil barely dodged Gray's attack. He countered with his own slash, making contact with Gray's back leg. Gray yelped again and landed hard on his side. Gray got up and continued to fight The Devil, but Gray now had a limp and was unable to maneuver around The Devil's attacks. The Devil made another arrow and shot it at Gray. Gray tried to jump out of the way, but the arrow landed right into the open wound in Gray's side. Gray yelped once more, but was still standing, grimacing at the pain.

"You can't win, give up, let me kill you" The Devil said.

"I will never quit, I will continue fighting until I die" Gray responded.

The Devil growled and made a huge energy ball, expending all his energy. Gray knew that he was unable to dodge this attack, and was starting to think that he would actually die here. Then, Gray had an idea. The Devil launched his attack and it exploded right at Gray's position. The Devil, who was was breathing hard, smiled and started to walk away. Gray suddenly appeared right in front of The Devil and clawed at his throat, leaving a huge mark. The Devil staggered back, clutching his neck.

"How did you do that? You were a sitting duck!" The Devil asked.

"I still have my powers from before. While you used your energy to make the ball, I copied Shadow's power and dove under to avoid your attack" Gray responded.

"Grrrrrr, I won't die here" The Devil told Gray and teleported out.

"Well, if you won't die here, then you will die sometime, and I will kill you" Gray replied.

Gray walked over to his friends who were lying on the ground, all of them had regained consciousness and was watching Gray from afar. Gray had turned back into his usual form. But still retained the wounds he had sustained.

"You really did a number to him, wherever he his, I don't think he's living, no matter what he is" Tiger commented.

"Well, it's not like I didn't get hurt, he got me pretty good too. How are you guys holding up?" Gray questioned the group.

"Well, since all of us are hurt pretty bad, why don't we go to my wife's clinic. She's a nurse and can treat our wounds" Roger suggested.

"Wait, didn't you say your wife was having a puppy?" Gray asked Roger.

"Yes I did, and she's already had them. Best day of my life" Roger replied dreamily.

"Is she fine with helping out alley dogs since you catch and imprison our kind?" Cheetah asked suspiciously.

"You guys helped me, the least I could do is to treat your wounds" Roger responded.

"What are we going to do about the others that didn't make it, like…" Tiger asked, hesitating.

"We have a special ceremony for those that died honorably. Crash could be apart of it, if you alley pups don't have anything else to do with him" Roger replied.

"Well, we do have a ritual to send off dead alley pups, but he doesn't have a gang, nor do any of the other alley pups want to participate or even show up" Cheetah told Roger.

"Well, first thing next morning, we'll gather all the bodies up and have that ceremony" Roger suggested. "Let's head to the clinic to get ourselves fixed up."

Meanwhile in another alley, The Devil was lying on the floor, bleeding out everywhere.

"Shadow, I don't think I will live through this. Tell me, have I ever told you about the Devil's curse?" The Devil asked Shadow.

"The Devil's curse? No, you haven't. What is it?" Shadow replied, confused.

"The Devil's curse is whenever I die, whoever killed me will inherit my power and become The Devil once the power overcomes them. If I die now, Gray will inherit my power and I know for a fact that he will be able to contain it, so I need you to kill me" The Devil explained.

"So you want me to kill you? I can't do that, you're my father!" Shadow pleaded.

"I didn't raise a coward, did I? I need you, no, I command you to kill me to take on Gray" The Devil commanded.

"I don't know about this" Shadow pleaded once more.

"Shadow, I don't have much time, do it now, or else you won't get another chance" The Devil threatened.

"Fine, but after, I'm going to kill Gray and rip him limb from limb for making me kill my own father" Shadow replied.

The Devil smiled and closed his eyes. Shadow came up to The Devil and broke his neck, killing him instantly. Shadow felt a rush of power come to him, feeling the dark energy consume him.

"Gray, you better watch out, I'm coming for you" Shadow howled.

Gray and his friend had just arrived at the clinic and Roger had asked his wife to tend to his friends. She took one look at his friends and glared back at her husband. She whispered something into Roger's ear, and Roger responded that they helped him, and he wouldn't be alive if they didn't help. She finally caved and told each of them to get onto a bed. She started at Roger, bandaging every wound, making sure each one of them were clean and disinfected. She repeated this procedure until she got to Gray.

"Oh my god, you are extremely hurt, I need more than bandages for this" she said.

"It's not that bad, really. It doesn't hurt at all" Gray responded.

"That wound in your side one hundred percent needs stitches. I'll go get a doctor to do that for you. After, we'll put bandages on the rest of the wounds and your torn up leg" She commented on his wounds.

Gray sighed, but gave in. He couldn't really do anything about his wounds, so he just let the nurse take care of it. Gray lied in the bed until he felt a touch on his side. He gritted his teeth as it stung.

"Don't move too much. I know it hurts, but in order to get stitches, it needs to be clean" The nurse told Gray.

Gray nodded and grimaced. After a few seconds and many rubs, the stinging went away. Then he noticed another dog with a pack on his back.

"Don't worry, it will only sting for a bit longer" the doctor told Gray.

Gray felt a bit more pain in his side, but not nearly as painful as the alcohol solution. Gray waited as the doctor closed the wound using his pack. Soon, the doctor finished the stitching and told the nurse that she could start on bandaging. The nurse nodded and went back up to Gray.

"Alright, time to bandage your leg. Try not to use your leg too much, and if your side wound reopens, come back immediately" the nurse advised.

"It's getting late honey, we need to get back to the pup" Roger notified his wife.

"I know, but I can't leave Gray here like this" his wife responded.

"Then why don't we let Gray sleep at our place? You can treat his wounds there" Roger suggested.

"Well, I guess" his wife responded, then glared at Gray. "You won't break anything, or hurt our pup, right?"

"I won't, promise. When's the party by the way?" Gray responded.

"He knows? How did he know? Did you invite him?" Roger's wife asked Roger sternly.

"Well, kinda, he helped me a lot" Roger admitted.

"Well, I don't want you there. You're an alley pup, so I don't trust you" Roger's wife responded.

Gray rolled his eyes and Roger's wife helped Gray onto the floor. Roger got up on his own and started to walk to his truck. Gray got up to the truck and was about to jump on until Roger's wife told him not to. She got a ramp from the back and Gray walked up the ramp. Gray didn't like being watched over, but it was better than being dead. Roger started the engine and started to drive back to their home. Gray looked out into the night sky at the stars where his mother is. Gray was surprised how long the fight took and wondered how they even had enough stamina to last the whole day. Gray yawned and started to drift off into dreamland when he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his face.

"Don't fall asleep, stay awake" Roger's wife told Gray in a monotone voice.

"Ow, that hurt, why did you slap me?" Gray asked, rubbing his cheek.

"Because I don't want you sleeping, easy at that" Roger's wife replied.

After a while of driving, Roger finally went up a driveway of a small house surrounded with a ton of trees. Roger and his wife helped Gray down and walked into their house. Gray looked around the house. The house was made out of wood, most likely the cheapest house they could find, but had a cozy cabin feeling about it. Roger walked up to the fireplace and started a fire. Gray watched as Roger poked at the wood inside the fireplace and walked up to Roger. Gray lied down and watched the fire as it crackled.

"I'll go get Kristi to finish up your bandaging" Roger told Gray as he was walking away.

Gray continued to stare at the fire until he heard mewling right next to him. He looked and saw a tiny puppy nuzzling right into his good side. Gray smiled and wrapped his tail around him. The tiny pup smiled, yawned and slept right next to Gray. Gray watched his chest rise and fall, it was the most adorable thing he had ever seen. Gray watched for a while until Roger and Kristi ran into his room, frantically looking for their son. They found him sleeping in Gray's fur, and watched as well. Kristi smiled for once and started working on Gray's leg, trying not to disturb the sleeping pup.

"Roger, have you thought of a name yet?" Kristi asked Roger.

"Not yet, I haven't had any time to think about it. Maybe Paul or Kyle or something" Roger suggested.

"I don't like those names. Try giving it more thought" Kristi suggested.

Roger rolled his eyes and nodded, sitting down next to his wife and tried to think of a good name. Suddenly, they heard a voice from above.

"I've finally found you Gray!" the voice spoke.

From the shadows, Shadow appeared right in front of them. Gray recognized Shadow, but now he had a messier coat of fur and his eyes were filled with madness.

"Roger, Kristi, get your pup out of here, now!" Gray commanded.

Kristi grabbed the pup, who had just woke up and started to cry, and ran to the second floor with Roger following. Gray growled at Shadow and scanned him for his power. When he scanned Shadow, however, he morphed back into his godly form, notifying him that Shadow had somehow inherited a strong power, most likely The Devil's power. Gray glared at Shadow and Shadow conjured up 5 energy balls and threw them at Gray simultaneously. Gray dodged all of them, noting that Shadow was still learning his power as well, and threw back an energy spear. The spear clipped Shadow's ear and stuck onto the ceiling. Gray knew that it would be a bad idea to fight inside the house and needed to get Shadow out. Fortunately, Shadow was only after Gray, and Gray ran out with Shadow following. Gray soon realized he made a giant mistake. Outside, there was darkness everywhere, and since Shadow could use that to his advantage, gave him a disadvantage. Gray watched at Shadow dove into the shadows and popped out right next to Gray. He slashed at Gray, reopening the wound, causing Gray to yelp. Gray cursed and concentrated. He figured that if The Devil could create rooms, it was also possible to create his own rooms of light. Gray focused and a small room of light formed around him. It was just centimeters away from his fur, but it created a small barrier that Shadow didn't want to touch. Shadow growled maniacally and dove right at Gray. Gray jumped out of the room, leaving Shadow inside. Shadow squinted his eyes and started flailing wildly. Gray realized that in the room, Shadow was blinded, just like the darkness and was draining Shadow's power to heal Gray. Gray used this to start clawing at Shadow, leaving major marks. Just like before, Shadow lost his stamina extremely quickly, and Gray noticed that his power was starting to diminish. Shadow fell on the ground, but then started to laugh.

"Heh, I will get my revenge, one way or another" Shadow laughed, and dove into the shadows.

Gray felt a sudden burst of energy from Shadow and frantically looked around trying to think what he meant about revenge. Then, Gray heard Kristi scream. Gray ran into the house and up the stairs, seeing Shadow standing there on top Kristi, who was bleeding out.  
"I will kill everyone who was your friend, and I will start with this family!" Shadow yelled.

"Gray growled and pounced at Shadow who had dove into the shadows again. He reappeared behind him and charged into the room next to Kristi. Gray immediately looked into the room and saw Roger standing in front of their pup who was still crying. Shadow grinned and charged at them with a giant spear ready to pierce through the both of them. Roger stood there, picked up his pup and turned his back, ready to die protecting his son, but the pain never came. Roger took a look back and saw Gray with the spear in his back, penetrating though his back to his chest. Gray stood there, gritting his teeth and the spear disintegrated, leaving a giant open wound in Gray's chest.

"Well, you're willing to sacrifice your life to save them? I'll still kill them anyways!" Shadow yelled again.

"No, you won't!" Gray shouted back and created a massive room of light. Shadow was blinded and stumbled around. Gray took aim with another arrow and shot it straight through Shadow's chest, piercing through his darkness filled heart and killed him instantly. Shadow fell with a surprised look and dissolved away. The black particles that Shadow had turned into surrounded Gray and entered his body. Gray felt the dark energy consume him, but the light inside of him resisted the darkness from spreading. Gray had taken a lethal blow in the chest, and Kristi was not able to tend to Gray's wound. Gray fell on the ground next to Roger, gasping for air. Gray knew that he was going to die, but smiled as he had protected his friend one last time.

"Gray! Oh no! You're bleeding everywhere! I need to get bandages!" Roger yelled frantically.

"You won't be able to help. By the time you get back, I'll be dead. Stay by my side, will you?" Gray asked.

"Yes, anything. You've helped me so much and I had never done anything for you. Wait, I know, you can name our pup!" Roger suggested as he put the pup down.

"I couldn't, it's your pup, I have no right to name him" Gray gasped.

"You have all the rights in the world. If I could, I would give him to you in compensation" Roger replied.

"Heh," Gray laughed, "well, if you want me to name him, I have a name in mind. How about…" Gray told Roger as he coughed. "How about, Chase?"

"Chase, I like it!" Roger replied.

Gray smiled and looked at the little pup. He was wagging his tiny tail and nuzzled Gray. He tugged on Gray's ear, trying to get him to play. Chase growled playfully, batting at Gray's ear and rolled around, tugging at it. Gray looked at Chase with kind eyes and said his goodbyes to Roger and the duo back in the hospital. Right after Gray said his goodbyes, Gray closed his eyes for the last time and died, smiling. The little pup stared at Gray, trying to get him to move again, but with no prevail. Chase licked Gray a couple more time until he started to cry again. Roger picked up Chase and walked him back to his mother. Kristi had gotten bandages and bound her wounds.

"Gray's dead, isn't he" Kristi asked solemnly.

"Yes he is. He named our pup though as a last gift to him" Roger told Kristi.

"What did he name him?" Kristi asked.

"Chase" Roger replied.

"Chase, I like that name, almost reminds me of you when we got married!" Kristi said as she smiled.

"Yea, I guess it does" Roger replied, smiling as well.

From then on, Roger gathered the bodies of his dead comrades and friends, Gray being one of them. Tiger and Cheetah were now able to walk and after finding out that Gray had died, they mourned for him and decided to participate in the ceremony. Gray and Crash were given multiple awards for the services they had provided and the medals were placed inside the casket they were held in. Once that was done and all the speeches were made and after many tears shed, They were buried under the ground with statues made for both of them in their honor erected after a few weeks after their funeral. Tiger and Cheetah were offered positions in the K-9 unit, which both of them accepted as most of the alley dogs were dead and they had no where to go to. Kristi was rushed to the emergency room after the fight and was lucky enough to survive the attack without any major damage. The darkness had disappeared because Shadow was the one who killed Gray, and Gray had killed Shadow, leaving the power to die away with Gray, and so the darkness had been lifted and was no longer a threat... or at least the pups all thought.

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 **So this marks the end or Gray's story, but there is still one more part of this story that will complete this story. Anyways, hope you enjoyed Gray's story arc and like always, comment, grammar, thanks for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

**So time to start the last part of this story that will conclude the story. This part isn't really confessions by Rocky, but it still ties in with the story and it wouldn't seem right to make it it's own story. I plan to have around three more chapters, but it could be less or more. Anyways, hope you enjoy chapter 12!**

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"Wait, so you were the pup that my parents talk about all the time?" Chase asked with his jaw open. "My parents always said that they wouldn't be where they are without him! They never told me who, but they did admire him. Heck, they even started to pray to the "Queen", whoever that is."

"Yea, I was there with Roger. I just wish I could tell him that I was reborn as Rocky" Gray told Chase.

"I don't remember much about you when I was a tiny puppy, but I do remember the fight, and I do remember nuzzling into another pup's fur, but my parents always told me that it was a deceased relative that really loved me" Chase explained.

"Well, I was kind of like a brother to Roger, but that's besides the point. I always wanted to see you again, but I never got the chance because Rocky wouldn't let me" Gray responded while glaring at Rocky.

"Hey! I didn't want to surprise them, I would rather die without them knowing than tell them" Rocky retaliated.

"Oh, great idea," Gray said in a sarcastic tone, "And you don't expect them to notice how they get bigger while you stay the same size? You're only alive because of me! If it wasn't for my godhood, you would've died in the lab like the other pups."

"Well, I'm still the reborn form of you, so I still have the superior power. You're only a conjuration, you're not a physical being here" Rocky countered. "I still don't know how you were able to appear without me doing it."

"Did you forget? Any mention of me will summon me. You said my name at least 10 times in your story. Of course I would be here" Gray responded. "Anyways, is Tiger and Cheetah still around? I never got to find out what they did after I died."

"Yup! They work for the police force now. They're one of the top leaders in our organization, up there with my dad" Chase explained.

"Really? They got so far! Heh, and I'm here with a rowdy self-centered pup to deal with" Gray taunted.

"Hey, who are you calling self-centered? You know I made all the pup packs and helped Ryder with the vehicles. I wouldn't call that self-centered" Rocky snapped.

"Oh, really? What about the other inventions you never showed them, keeping them a secret in your truck?" Gray responded aggressively.

"I don't have any secret inventions in my truck" Rocky replied, cheeks turning red.

"Then you haven't been secretly making yourself a waterproof barrier, or a pair of goggles that allows you to see heat signatures, or even your low cost high efficiency generator that runs on scrapped parts?" Gray revealed.

"Uh, I haven't done any of them!" Rocky tried to counter, but the pups were already looking inside Rocky's truck. They found the exact items that Gray had said, even the generator. The pups came out holding the stuff Rocky had in his truck except for the generator, all glaring at Rocky.

"You've been hiding all of this here? You know how useful this is on missions?" Skye asked. "This generator could literally power the entire city."

"Well, I just made that, and I was going to tell Ryder about it" Rocky muttered.

"So now that I got that out of the way, Chase, can you contact your dad? I want to meet him again, surprise him, you know?" Gray asked.

"Well, my dad usually is pretty busy on the force, but I can try" Chase replied.

The pups walked into the lookout and up the elevator. They met Ryder up there, sitting on a chair on his pup pad. Ryder looked up, saw Gray and immediately stood up.

"Hello there, you must be Gray!" Ryder greeted.

"You know me?" Gray asked, confused.

"Yes I do! Roger has told me so much about you and how you saved his entire family! He talks about you all the time! You're like a celebrity to them" Ryder explained.

"Wow, they really like me huh, well, I was just about to see if I could call them" Gray told Ryder.

"Well, let me see if I can get a hold of Roger then. I think he should be on his resting period, but he might be out patrolling" Ryder replied.

Ryder pulled up his pup pad and tapped on a few icons and it started to ring. It rang for a few seconds and then Roger came up on the giant screen.

"Hello Ryder, you called? Do you need something? And why is your camera off?" Roger greeted.

"Hello Roger, I was wondering how was your day?" Ryder responded.

"Well, it could be better, admittedly. By any chance is Chase there? I haven't seen him in a while, it would be nice to catch up on what's going on with him these days" Roger asked.

"I got something better to show you. Is Tiger and Cheetah there with you by the way?" Ryder asked back.

"Yea, there on the other side of the room. Hey Tiger, Cheetah! Come over here! Ryder wants to talk to you!" Roger shouted.

The pups heard some scampering and soon saw two big dogs standing next to Roger. One of them had the a yellow coat of fur while the other had a orange coat. Cheetah had a long scar down his right eye and Tiger had a part of his ear clipped away. Gray smiled as he saw his friends on the screen.

"Hi Ryder, haven't heard from you in a long time, you wanted to talk to us?" Tiger asked.

"Yes, I wanted to show you something" Ryder replied and turned on the camera. The screen on the television how had a view of their own camera and Roger scanned the screen. The pups watched as the three dogs all leaned in to look at the whole gang. They waved at Chase and said hello to every single pup until they noticed that there was an extra pup. They squinted their eyes and then widened them after they noticed who it was.

"Gray?! You're alive?! How?!" Roger exclaimed.

"It's a long story for later. How have you guys been doing?" Gray replied happily.

"It's been great, Tiger and I joined the police force and now were one of the best! We love it here! Our powers have been so useful to the force!" Cheetah responded.

"Well, I'm glad to hear, I see that the battle scars have stayed with you from that day" Gray noticed.

"Yea, kind of like a mark of pride, you know? Like, it gives us a reminder how we fought with you to defeat The Devil. I heard from Roger that Shadow attacked you at his place?" Tiger asked.

"Yea, I was able to kill him though" Gray replied.

"But Roger told us you died, you died right in his paws after you named Chase" Cheetah asked.

"I did, but I'm a god, remember? I got reborn as Rocky over there. Say hi Rocky!" Gray responded as he pushed Rocky up front. Rocky smiled slightly at the police dogs and gave a shy wave.

"Oh my gosh, he's so cute! Hi Rocky! You look just like Gray! And you're wearing his necklace too! How adorable!" Cheetah exclaimed.

"Cheetah, you're a grown dog, don't act like that, at least not here in the station where everyone can hear you" Tiger hissed.

"But he's so adorable! Look at him! I wish I could go over there and give you a giant bear hug!" Cheetah continued.

Rocky blushed and slowly shied away behind Chase, clearly embarrassed.

"So how did Shadow get his father's power anyways? It is transferred by bloodline?" Roger asked.

"I don't believe so, I think it goes to whoever killed him. I felt a surge of dark power rushing into me after I killed Shadow, but since I died as well and I was killed by Shadow, The power must've died off" Gray explained.

"Well, I hope so. I don't want to deal with it again. Anyways, we need to get back to work. Our rest period is over, so I'm glad to see you back again and hope you can visit sometime!" Roger suggested.

"I'll see if I can. I'm kind of stuck with Rocky here" Gray replied.

Tiger, Roger and Cheetah waved and disconnected from the call. Gray smiled and turned back around. He saw Chase and Rocky there, the other pups must have left during the call sometime. Chase was also smiling after being able to see his father and hear his voice again and Rocky was still blushing from before.

"Awww, looks like Cheetah really like you! Look at yourself! You're blushing so hard!" Gray mocked.

"Shut up, I don't want to hear it" Rocky replied, his blush getting more redder.

Gray laughed and took Rocky and Chase back outside where the other pups were playing tag. They noticed Gray, Rocky and Chase come out of the lookout and asked if they wanted to join. Chase and Gray both responded with a yes, but Rocky decided to wait for a bit before he joined. Rocky watched as The pups played tag, Gray getting tagged on purpose and chased the other pups around, pretending to be a monster trying to eat the other pups. The other pups laughed and pretended to scream as Gray came up to them and would fall to the ground, as if they were helpless. Rocky smiled and after a few minutes decided to join in on the fun. When he started to run around with the pups, he noticed that Gray ran directly to him. Rocky started to dash around, hiding behind the other pups who would immediately jump out of the way. Gray soon made it over to Rocky and Rocky tried to get away from Gray by maneuvering around bushes and trees, but Gray ran over to Rocky in an instant and grabbed him by the back paws, holding him up.

"You're it" Gray told Rocky as he smiled and put Rocky down.

"Ohhh, I'm gonna get you back Gray" Rocky replied.

This went on for a few hours or so until Ryder told the pups that it was time to sleep. The pups went back to their respective pup houses smiling after the best game of tag they had ever played and fell asleep almost immediately. Rocky was the only one that wasn't sleeping and sat up to look at the moon. Gray watched as Rocky stared at the moon, noticing Rocky in deep thought.

"Back there, you said that the evil had disappeared. Is it possible for it to be in me?" Rocky asked Gray.

"It shouldn't have went on to you. You don't have any darkness in you. If it is in you, it would be locked away in the necklace, so to be on the safe side, I think it would a good idea to not break it. You don't want the darkness to infest you too" Gray explained.

"Well, I still don't know. Evil can't just disappear, right? It's not like darkness is gone" Rocky asked.

"Well, It could be out there, but it isn't anywhere near here" Gray assured Rocky.

"Thanks Gray, that helped" Rocky thanked Gray, smiled and closed his eyes to sleep.

Meanwhile, In a pup's dream, a dark shadow was talking to a pup.

"I finally found him, and it's your job to kill him. He is here, and I want his power. His power is locked away in that necklace again, so I can have it once more" the shadow told the pup.

"I don't want to hurt anyone! Please! Get out of my head, I can't stand you around!" the pup pleaded.

"Well, you were the one that inherited the power, and soon you will be infested with darkness. It would be quick and painless if you would stop resisting!" the shadow growled.

"I would never fall into darkness! I have too much to live for than to be consumed by darkness!" the pup responded with a growl.

"I will consume you one day! And when I do, I will make you kill Rocky" the shadow threatened.

The next morning, Chase woke up and woke up the other pups for breakfast. He noticed that Gray was no longer there with Rocky, but didn't think too much of it. Chase woke up Rocky with a small shake and Rocky woke up with a yawn. After Rocky, he woke up the other pups and Ryder had their breakfast ready for them.

"Where's Gray? I was hoping he would be able to play some more tag with us! It was fun!" Rubble asked after breakfast.

"He's around here somewhere, I think he's out in the forest. He likes camping out." Rocky told Rubble.

"Hey, why don't we try playing hide and seek? That's seems fun!" Marshall suggested.

"Sure, we can try, but remember, Gray is pretty big" Rocky commented.

"He can just seek then. Let's see how fast he can find us!" Chase suggested.

"Hello pups, what are we doing today?" Gray asked after returning from the forest.

"We were going to play hide and seek. You can be the seeker" Marshall told Gray.

"Oh, well you better hide well. I have really good listening and eyesight" Gray warned.

The pups smiled and scattered. Gray closed his eyes and started to count. Gray counted to ten and opened his eyes to find the pups. This first thing he noticed is the giggling from the bush in the back of the lawn. Gray knew it was Marshall, but decided to ignore him for the time being. Instead, he went over to a log where he knew that a pup was hiding in because he did hear a scratchy sound when counting, most likely from fur on wood. He pretended to be stumped and sat down on the log.

"Hmm, the pups are good. I really don't know where they are. I wonder where one of them is" Gray said to himself.

Gray heard some snickering from inside of the log, but also heard Skye laughing on top of a tree. Gray looked up and saw Skye standing on a branch.

"Dang it! You were too funny!" Skye laughed.

Gray smiled and looked under the log. Zuma laughed and crawled out of the log.

"You knew the whole time, didn't you?" Zuma asked.

"Maybe, it's for you to find out" Gray replied.

Gray listened around and heard some paw steps behind the pup houses. Gray slowly crept up to the pup houses and jumped right behind the houses. Instead of finding a pup, however, he found a recording tape behind Chase's pup house. "

That Rocky, outsmarting me" Gray thought.

Gray walked back to the yard and saw a white paw sticking out of the bushes. Gray jumped right into the bushes and landed right on Rubble.

"Oof, Get off me, you're so heavy!" Rubble exclaimed.

"Well, I found you" Gray replied.

"I can see that. Was it too easy?" Rubble asked.

"Well, let's just say a white paw out in the open is pretty noticeable" Gray explained.

Rubble laughed sheepishly and went over to the other found pups. Gray went on to hunt for the other pups. He sniffed around for a bit until he heard a yelp of pain from Rocky.

"Oww, That hurts!" Rocky cried.

"Rocky! What happened?" Gray asked as he ran over.

"I don't know, I must've gotten scratched by the twigs over there" Rocky answered.

"Rocky! Are you ok? I heard a yelp!" Marshall asked as he ran over as well.

"I'm fine I think" Rocky answered again.

"Let me take a look at it Rocky" Marshall told Rocky and looked at the wound of Rocky's side. "Uh, you said you got this from a scratch of a branch? This isn't from a stick, it's a claw wound" Marshall told Rocky, worried.

"What? A claw wound? That's not possible! There was no one near me!" Rocky told Marshall.

"Well, unless the branches conveniently scratched you like a claw, then this is definitely a claw mark" Marshall replied, wrapping a bandage around the wound.

"What happened?" Chase asked, coming over.

"It's nothing, just got scratched" Rocky answered once more.

"Well, I hope you're ok. Let's not play hide and seek then. Anyone up for catch?" Chase asked the group.

The other pups except for Rocky and Gray answered with a big yes and went off to play catch. Gray stayed with Rocky who was sitting down on the driveway.

"Are you ok? Does it hurt?" Gray asked.

"It's hurting a bit. It should go away. Why don't you go play with the other pups, I'll be watching" Rocky suggested.

"Ok, but after I get you something to rest on" Gray replied and picked up Rocky to put him on a pillow inside the lookout.

After putting Rocky on a pillow, Gray went out to play with the other pups. Gray challenged Chase to shoot a ball as high as possible and Chase did. Gray jumped up and caught it in his mouth. The other pups gawked as Gray landed. Gray was soaking up the attention of the pups and handed the ball back to Chase. Chase reloaded his launcher and threw a few more balls to the other pups. Chase shot another ball into the air for Gray to catch and Gray jumped to catch the ball. Gray was about to clench his teeth around the ball, but the ball went right through Gray. The ball landed right on Marshall's head, knocking him backwards a bit. Gray was confused at why it went through him, and suddenly had a look of fear on his face.

"We need to get to the lookout now!" Gray shouted to the other pups.

The pups were all confused at why he told them to get inside, but they followed Gray inside anyways.

"Why did the ball pass through you? You caught it earlier" Marshall asked.

"If my theory is correct, we will find out once we get inside" Gray replied, rushing inside the lookout.

Gray went straight to Rocky and found Rocky breathing hard. He had no new wound, but had a look of pain on his face.

"Gray, It hurts!" Rocky told Gray.

"What hurts? Tell me now! Don't lose consciousness!" Gray ordered.

"The wound! It hurts really bad!" Rocky cried.

Marshall took off the bandage that was wrapped around Rocky's side and saw the wound had gotten bigger and was now bleeding profusely. Marshall looked at the wound in disgust and Skye had fainted in Chase's paws.

"Marshall, Get your stitching kit, now! We can't have Rocky going unconscious!" Gray commanded.

Marshall nodded and went out to get his kit. He took out a string and needle and started working on Rocky's side. Rocky yelped each time the needle went into his fur and Marshall cringed every time, but he had commands to follow, and soon enough after a few more yelps, he had stitched up Rocky. Rocky was extremely tired out and was breathing hard. Marshall bandaged Rocky's side and made sure that everything was secured. He had no idea how the wound had gotten bigger, the other bandage should've prevented it to get bigger.

"Gray, what could've happened?" Chase asked as he looked around for Gray, but didn't see him. "Gray?"

Everyone looked for Gray, but couldn't find him anywhere. Rocky had slowed down his breathing and had started to sleep. Marshall checked Rocky's heart rate and deemed it to be normal, so Rocky had, in fact, fell asleep to rest and not anything else that could've happened. Marshall stayed back as the other pups went out to look for Gray. They looked everywhere, but couldn't find him at all. The pups came back inside upset to where Marshall and Rocky were. Rocky was still sleeping and Marshall was staring at Rocky, making sure nothing else was going to happen suddenly again. Soon enough, lunch time was here and Ryder had called the pups out to eat. The pups, except for Marshall, went out to eat and Ryder poured a bowl for everyone. Once Ryder noticed that Marshall or Rocky wasn't there to eat, he went inside the lookout to find Rocky on one of Marshall's stretcher and Marshall in his medical gear.

"Oh my gosh, what happened to Rocky?" Ryder asked.

"I don't know! Rocky had a small cut on his side and I bandaged it, but it became larger when we went out to play" Marshall explained.

"That's strange, a wound shouldn't do that, not on it's own anyways" Ryder thought.

"I'm looking over Rocky so that it doesn't reopen or anything" Marshall explained.

"Ok, do you want me to bring you your bowl?" Ryder asked.

"I would love too, but I can't. Don't want to get my food dirty" Marshall replied.

Ryder nodded and went back up to the top of the lookout. The pups had finished eating and were concerned about Rocky. They went inside and took a look at how Rocky was doing. Rocky had finally regained consciousness and had his eyes opened. Gray had appeared next to Rocky and was also looking after Rocky.

"Gray, there you are! We were looking all over for you!" Chase told Gray.

"Sorry, but I'm not a physical pup. Rocky's energy conjures me, so if he goes unconscious, I disappear. Since Rocky's back, I'm back as well" Gray explained.

"Well, I'm worried about Rocky. I asked Ryder how a wound would reopen itself and even Ryder doesn't know" Marshall told Gray.

"When I was in Rocky's body, I noticed that the wound isn't a normal scratch wound or claw wound, it has some magical properties to it, one of which is draining energy" Gray explained.

"Magical energy? But why Rocky? I was also hiding in a bush and so was Chase!" Marshall replied, concerned.

"Well, I don't know. Someone might be targeting me or Rocky. Until we find the pup behind this, This would will take a long time to heal, probably weeks before it is completely healed" Gray said.

Marshall pondered for a moment, sighed, then walked up to Rocky. Marshall held his paws up to Rocky and closed his eyes. A green light came from Marshall's paws and Rocky's wound started to close rapidly. The pups watched in amazement as Marshall closed Rocky's wound. The pup's jaws dropped and ran up to Marshall after he was done. The wound had closed completely and Rocky was now healed completely. Rocky lied there, surprised as well, and took a look at Marshall. Marshall was sweating and look extremely tired and worn out. Rocky got up from the bed and went over to Marshall.

"When did you have that power?" Rocky and the other pups asked.

"Well, I had it for a long time, but I never used it" Marshall explained.

"Why not? It is so useful! You can heal any wound!" Chase asked.

"Because it's not as simple as you think! My healing power consumes a ton of energy. Also, It can take away the pain from the patient, but hurts me instead. That's why I don't like using it at all" Marshall explained again.

"So you just took weeks of pain off of Rocky and endured it for yourself?" Gray asked and Marshall nodded. "Wow, that was really bold of you to do that."

Marshall smiled and fell on the ground, too tired to stand. Gray picked up Marshall and walked him to his pup house to rest. Gray went back into the lookout with a solemn look.

"This means that someone most likely has the dark energy from The Devil. This also means that he is not only still out there, but he is here in Adventure Bay, whoever has it" Gray commented.

"So what do we do?" Chase asked.

"Well, we need to keep him away from Rocky. He's after the necklace, so we need to protect Rocky" Gray replied.

"But how are we going to find him? We don't even know who has it!" Skye asked.

"Well, considering it's a claw mark, it must be an animal, most likely a pup" Gray thought out loud. "Knowing this, it has to be a stray or one of you guys."

"It's not one of us, we've been with each other for a long time now, so if he was after Rocky, then he would've killed him earlier" Skye commented.

"Well, you never know, we still need to be careful. We need to tell Ryder to also look out for Rocky" Gray suggested.

The other pups agreed and went up to the lookout tower. Ryder was looking out the window, staring outside.

"Oh, didn't see you pups there. Do you need something?" Ryder asked.

"I wanted to warn you that Rocky could be in serious danger. Make sure that no stray pups go anywhere near Rocky" Gray warned.

"Ok, but why? What's going on?" Ryder asked.

"It's hard to explain, but there is someone that has a grudge with me and wants to kill Rocky to kill me basically" Gray explained.

"Oh no, should we call Roger? I bet he could do something" Ryder asked.

"That would be a great idea! We could use their help to fight" Gray responded.

Ryder nodded and called Roger. After a few seconds of ringing, Cheetah picked up.

"Hello Ryder, Roger isn't here, he went out to do something. Did you want something?" Cheetah asked while waving to Gray and Rocky.

"We need you to come down to Adventure Bay as soon as possible" Ryder told Cheetah.

"Why, what's wrong over there? Criminals?" Cheetah asked again.

"Sort of, The Devil is after me and Rocky" Gray replied.

"What? No one hurts my friends! Tiger! Pack up! We're going to adventure Bay! Our friends are in danger!" Cheetah shouted. "Thanks for warning us, we'll be over by tomorrow afternoon."

"Thank you so much Cheetah, see you tomorrow" Gray replied.

The officers waved goodbye and hung up. Gray and the pups went back down the lookout elevator and sat down on the couches to come up with a plan of action. First, they needed to find out who it was. They decided that they would go into town as a group to find any strays that were around. They looked in every corner, alley and bush, Rocky even used his heat sensor to find any heat signatures around that resemble pups, but there were no strays at all, meaning that either The Devil fled or was one of the pups. After looking for the whole day, the pups went back to lookout to discuss their findings.

"So it has to be one of you" Gray told the group.

"Well, who could it be? We would've noticed if someone acted funny" Chase replied.

"Well, we know it can't be Rocky or Gray, after all, they are the ones being targeted" Skye commented.

"So who is it? Maybe it's not one of us and he is just hiding somewhere in the forest or something" Rubble suggested.

"If they had fled, then he would've left a trace, but there was nothing. It has to be one of you" Gray replied.

"Well, we've been searching for a long time, so we should get some rest to look tomorrow" Chase suggested.

"Yea, we should probably do that, I'm tired" Rocky agreed.

All of the pups went back to their pup houses to rest so they would have energy to figure out what to do the next day. During the night, the black shadow returned to the poor pup's dream once more.

"You had your chance, why didn't you grab it?" the shadow hollered.

"I can't do it! I will never do anything you tell me to! Get out of my head!" the pup screamed back.

"You will submit to me, I will consume you. Kill him now while he is sleeping, or else your family will feel my wrath too" the shadow threatened.

"No! I will fight you, I will never submit!" the pup growled.

"Well, you can't fight it forever, there is no use fighting it. I feel you are getting weaker the longer you resist" the shadow told the pup.

"I will continue to fight it, even if it kills me!" the pup responded.

The pups once again woke up to Chase's megaphone. The pups one by one got up and started to eat breakfast. Gray came up from the driveway and watched as the pups devoured their breakfast. They couldn't wait until Roger, Cheetah and Tiger arrived. They all sat on the driveway, waiting for them to arrive. Gray noticed that the pups started to get antsy, so he let them go and play for a while and would call them over after they arrive. The pups were relieved and went off to play some tag. Gray continued to sit and watch the driveway until his friends arrived. Soon enough, three trucks came up with his friends in them. Gray smiled and after they parked their trucks, jumped right out and ran to Gray.

"So you do exist! Finally get to see you again!" Roger told Gray.

"You thought I wasn't actually real? Wow, you're such great friends" Gray joked.

"Well, since we're here, where's Rocky? I want to hug him!" Cheetah asked.

"He's over there, playing with the pups" Gray replied.

Cheetah ran over to the pups and the pups noticed that the three dogs were finally here. They went over to where Gray was and Cheetah took Rocky out of the group and gave him a big bear hug.

"Oooh, you are so much cuter when I'm here than on a screen!" Cheetah exclaimed.

"Uhh, excuse me, but I can't breathe" Rocky gasped.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you ok?" Cheetah asked.

"Cheetah, act more mature, would you? You're a role model to Chase!" Tiger hissed.

"But look at him! He's so cute! How can you resist!" Cheetah exclaimed.

"Fine, whatever. Anyways, did you figure out who wants to kill you and Rocky?" Tiger asked Gray.

"We still don't know yet. It's one of the pups though, we know that" Gray explained.

"Well well well, look who's all here!" A deep voice grumbled. "I guess the whole gang is together!"

"Who said that?" Gray asked.

Suddenly, they saw streaks of black next to them, the pup moving too fast to see who it was. Rocky frantically looked around, scared and Rocky suddenly yelped in pain. Rocky was scratched once more on his back leg, then his side, this time, the wounds were large and deep. Rocky fell down in pain and Cheetah, Tiger, Roger and Gray went over to Rocky and surrounded him to protect him. They too got small scratches on their chests and side, but they needed to stop the pup before the damage built up.

"Cheetah, can you chase him down?" Gray asked.

"I can't, he's moving too fast!" Cheetah replied.

"Tiger, can you get him?" Gray asked again.

"Moving to fast for me to hit him!" Tiger responded.

"Then how are we going to stop him? I can't use the necklace, only Rocky can and he's down!" Gray asked.

"I don't know, maybe Chase can use his net, but then again, he can't target him" Roger suggested.

"Well, what else can we d-" Tiger started.

"Stop! I don't want to hurt anyone! Please!" The pup yelled.

The speeding pup suddenly started to slow down to a halt. Gray got a good look at the pup and saw a coat of black fur on the side that was facing him.

"Hey, who are you!" Gray asked.

"Please stop, I can't take it! Someone, help me please!" the pup pleaded.

Gray slowly went up to the pup. Gray grabbed the pup on the shoulder and turned him to face him.

"Chase?" Gray exclaimed.

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 **There really isn't anything else to say, so comment, grammar, thanks for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry for not posting sooner and leaving it on a cliff hanger, got caught up in a lot school work, but finally found some time to start wrapping up this story. To be honest, I also ran out of ideas on where to take this story, but I've gotten some inspiration on how to finish this story, so here's chapter 13!**

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Gray and the pups looked at Chase with a surprised expression. They stared into Chase's now glowing, teary, red eyes. His entire left side was covered in black fur, but his right was his regular coat of fur. The black was noticeably spreading to his left side, trying to shroud him in full darkness.

"Please, do something, I don't think I can hold him off any longer" Chase pleaded. Suddenly, his attitude changed. Instead of Chase's kinder, gentler voice, another voice came out of Chase's mouth.

"You have no right to resist me! You are merely a puppet under my control!" the voice spoke. "Gray, did you really think that I would die? It is true that my son killed you, leaving my curse no one to infest, but you made one fatal mistake, you let Chase here play with you. After you died, I infested Chase, but since he was a pup, I had to wait until I could use his body as a vessel!" Gray growled and snapped at Chase. Chase immediately jumped back, avoiding Gray's attack.

"Now now, you don't want to hurt your precious teammate, or more importantly, Roger's son, now would you?" The voice taunted. "I've been waiting too long for this moment to get my revenge. I was going to unleash my wrath when Chase turned one and became a police pup, but after feeling an immense aura of light around Adventure Bay, I knew it was you. So I waited until you showed yourself, and now here you are." Chase smiled, then bared his teeth and pounced toward Gray. Gray hopped back, narrowly dodging his attack.

"Ahh, this body reminds me when I was a young devil. Nice and agile, able to kill anyone I wanted" the voice remarked. Chase suddenly started to streak around the pups, leaving them clueless how to attack him.

"We need a plan, is Marshall still around?" Gray asked.

"Right here Gray, what do you need me to do?" Marshall replied.

"I need you to heal up Rocky. He hasn't sustained any serious injuries so you should be able to handle it. My strength is linked to Rocky's, and if he falls, I go down with him. Make sure he stays conscious and well" Gray commanded. Marshall nodded and ran right over to Rocky. Marshall held up his paw like before and helped Rocky heal up. Rocky watched in awe as his wounds closed once more. He got up onto his feet and glanced around, seeing Gray's friend surrounding him and the other pups.

"Rocky, you're up, good. I need all the strength you have, I can fight him. All I ask is that you give me your power" Gray asked. Rocky nodded without hesitation and closed his eyes. An aura of light glowed from Rocky and a trail formed from Rocky to Gray. Gray felt a sudden rush of power flow into him, feeling the same power he had before reincarnation. Gray growled, focused on Chase and pounced. He hit Chase dead on the side, knocking him back, causing him to grunt. Chase skidded to a halt, leaving claw marks on the pavement and grass, smiling at Gray.

"Well, looks like you haven't lost your touch yet. No matter, now that I have total control over this body, Chase's strong will is mine to use, and I will triumph!" the voice shouted. Gray growled back at Chase, and like before, scanned Chase for his power.

"Haven't we done this before? Scanning my power is useless, my dark aura prevents you from copying my ability, and since Shadow isn't around, you can't use my darkness in your favor" the voice mocked and Chase made a sudden dash towards Gray, claws outstretched. Gray jumped back once more, but not fast enough to receive a scratch, leaving a small wound on Gray's side. Gray grimaced and looked over at Rocky, who was also grimacing. Gray cursed at his carelessness, he knew that if he got hurt, even the littlest bit, Rocky would feel the same pain. Marshall noticed that Rocky was in pain, but his efforts to heal him were futile, since the pain was from Gray, and not physically on Rocky.

"What do you want us to do?" Cheetah shouted at Gray, hoping to join the fight.

"I need you to stay by Rocky and the other pups, you've seen me and Rocky before before, if he falls unconscious, then I'll fade and disappear" Gray hollered back. Gray turned back around and noticed that Chase was no longer in his line of sight. Frantically, he looked around, hoping to find Chase, but was unable to track Chase down. Chase suddenly streaked next to the unprepared Gray and left a sizable mark on his shoulder. Gray roared in unison with Rocky who had also felt the pain, and dropped to the ground. Marshall's eyes widened to the side of dinner plates and attempted to run over to Gray.

"Stop Marshall, stay with Rocky. I'm fine!" Gray shouted at Marshall. Marshall halted immediately, and looked at his wound, worried, but slowly backed away. Gray slowly got back up, and glared at Chase who was dancing around before his eyes.

"Well now, I guess I'm the stronger pup now, you can't even touch me" Chase teased. "Why don't you bring out your friend? I want a real challenge." Gray growled back, but had no other choice, he couldn't fight Chase in this form he was in, it was too weak and slow. Gray suddenly burst into a ball of light and dark, surrounding Gray completely. Chase smiled with a devilish grin and gave a blood-curdling howl. From the ball, Gray reemerged once more as the half devil, half angel pup.

"Well now, I finally have a challenge!" Chase howled. Gray pounced towards Chase with amazing speed, clipping Chase on the ear. Chase jumped away, unfazed about his ear. Chase smiled, then started to run around in a streak of black, Gray matching him in a streak of gray. Gray slowly caught up to Chase and gave Chase a big bite on the back leg, stopping Chase to a halt. Chase bared his teeth in pain, and glanced at Gray who had black blood on his teeth.

"Impressive" was all Chase said as his would slowly closed on its own. Gray watched in shock and realized that killing Chase was going to be nearly impossible. Once Chase was completely healed, He charged at Gray, bashing into him in his chest. Gray flew backwards and fell on his side, leaving a few skid marks. Gray recovered from his shock and started to think of a plan on how to kill Chase. He needed to deliver a fatal blow to Chase before he could recover, but killing The Devil would be no easy task. It would require him to use up all his energy in one attack, so he needed to pin down Chase beforehand. Then, Gray remembered. If The Devil was using Chase as a vessel, then Chase's weaknesses are also The Devils, and knowing this gave Gray an idea. Gray looked around and tried to find the other pups, most notably Skye. He found that all of them were hugging the lookout as much as possible, avoiding the dangers beyond the police pup's protection.

"Skye, can you see if you can find Mayor Humdinger? I need him to come to the lookout immediately!" Gray shouted at Skye. Skye had a shocked look on her face, but quickly recovered.

"Why Humdinger? How do you know him and how can he help?" Skye questioned.

"Now's not the time to ask questions, just fly and find him, Chase won't be able to follow you if you fly" Gray shouted back. Skye gulped and took off with her pup pack. Chase noticed Skye was flying away, but didn't think much of it, after all like Skye asked, how could Humdinger do anything? Skye flew off into the distance and looked for Humdinger. Meanwhile, the other pups were praying that whatever Gray was thinking would work, as long as they didn't get hurt.

"Sending off a pup to find Humdinger? He's a complete screw up! I can overpower him just like you and the other pups!" Chase smirked. Gray also knew this and hoped that his plan wasn't a complete dud, as he is putting both the pups and Mayor Humdinger in danger. For now, he needed to stall for time. Gray jumped around Chase, making no effort to attack Chase. Chase watched as Gray hopped from place to place, confused at Gray's effort.

"Well, since you're trying to be all quick and all, I might as well use you as target practice" Chase yawned. Chase conjured a black energy ball right above him and launched at Gray, hitting him dead center in his stomach. Gray flew backwards, clenching his teeth in pain. He got back up and made his own energy ball. He realized that he also needed some practice for his energy ball before Skye returned with Humdinger. Gray made a small ball, making sure not to spend too much of his energy, and threw it at Chase. Chase also was making a ball, much bigger than Gray's and launched it at Gray. The two balls collided, and created a massive crater where the two balls met. They repeated this until Chase got bored from Gray's weak attempt at energy balls.

"Really? This is all you can muster? I expected more from you Gray!" Chase mocked.

Gray growled back, hoping that Skye would return faster. Each energy ball Gray created drained more and more of his energy, and Gray was starting to worry he wouldn't have enough energy to finish Chase off. Chase suddenly sped towards Gray, knocking him back by his blow to his chest, making him hit the side of the lookout. Gray fell to the ground and slowly stumbled back up onto his paws in pain. He could feel that some of his bones were broken, but Gray resisted to show any sign of weakness.

"I'm back Gray!" Skye shouted suddenly, appearing up the driveway with Humdinger riding on his kitty carrier.

"This better be important, I was just cleaning my secret base!" Mayor Humdinger complained with his kitties grunting with him.

"Great timing Skye. Tiger, when I say now, I need you to tackle Chase and pin him" Gray told Tiger. Tiger had a very confused look on his face, questioning if Gray had gone mad.

"Tackle Chase? Dude, he's The Devil, there's no way I can pin him!" Tiger shouted back.

"Just trust me. Mayor Humdinger, let the kitty catastrophe crew out!" Gray hollered.

"Okay, but I don't see why." Mayor Humdinger muttered under his breath. He opened the carrier and the six kitties jumped out, but was immediately frightened by Chase's appearance.

"Kitties, I want you to go and play with Chase over there!" Gray commanded. The kitties hesitated at Gray's command, but Gray's glare at the kitties scared them more. They ran over to Chase and started to mess around.

"What are you doing...Achoo!" Chase started. Chase started to sneeze over and over again, leaving him completely helpless to retaliate. He tried to start running away, but a kitty climbed onto his back and head and clung on to him.

"Now, Tiger!" Gray shouted and Tiger jumped right on Chase, pinning him down.

"Curse you kitties! Achoo!" Chase cursed as Tiger pinned him down to the ground. Gray ran up to Chase and started to conjure an energy ball. The helpless Chase watched as Gray's ball got bigger and bigger, almost as big as two of the pup's trucks.

"Wait!" Chase shouted, this time back to his old puppy voice. "Don't kill me!" Chase started to cry and Gray hesitated. He looked at Chase's watery eyes and started to have second thoughts about killing Chase. He needed to kill him, but in doing so would also kill Chase, which he completely forgot about. Gray started to loosen up and then Chase grinned evilly and jumped out from under Tiger and pinned Gray, making the energy ball collide with the wall of the lookout, demolishing it completely.

"I got you! By letting Chase come back out, it gave me enough time for you to hesitate to escape, and because of your big heart, I can finally kill you! Goodbye Gray, It was nice knowing you!" Chase growled. Gray looked around frantically. It turns out that the kittens had ran back to Humdinger because of the giant energy ball, leaving Chase to do whatever he wanted. Humdinger had already left, fleeing from the danger,leaving Gray pinned, unable to escape. He watched as Chase raised his claws and slashed at Gray's throat.

Gray gasped and lost his breath. His sight started to diminish, he felt his life draining away as Chase watched him with Gray's blood on his claws.

"You won't win Chase" Gray gasped.

"Well, I think I just did." Chase replied with a evil smirk.

"Rocky will stop you, he's the smartest pup I know" Gray gasped again.

"Him? I don't think so, none of the pups can stop me!" Chase replied once more and slashed at Gray's neck one more time, finishing him off. Gray closed his eyes and faded, leaving behind the pool of blood that formed around him. The pups and the police dogs had a look of surprise. To Roger, Tiger and Cheetah, Gray was the strongest out of all of them, especially in his half dark half light form. Chase could feel the fear in the pups and the dogs, and was ready to attack them for easy Tiger and Cheetah slowly back away, making sure not to make sudden movements. They looked back, making sure that all the pups were there. They counted four pups.

"Where's Rocky?!" Tiger shouted frantically. "He's not here! Quick, we need to find him!"

"We can't leave the other pups here, they will all die!" Cheetah snapped back.

"Rocky is the only pup that Gray has left, we need to protect him!" Tiger retaliated.

"Rocky huh? He's already dead. Gray's life force is linked to Rocky's. If Gray dies, he dies too." Chase told the pups. "The other pups are next. You know what, I'll give you 15 minutes to go and find Rocky. If you can find him, you can protect him, but I will come and kill him if he is still alive, no matter what. I'll wait on killing the other pups." Tiger gulped, nodded and ran towards the pup houses. Cheetah ran around the lookout, looking everywhere where Rocky could be. Roger stayed with the pups who looked emotionally devastated after Gray was murdered by Chase.

"Come on Rocky, please be alive" Tiger muttered under his breath desperately. Tiger ran into Rocky's pup house and ran right into Rocky.

"There you are! You're alive! Thank the Queen! We need to protect you, Gray is dead and now Chase is coming for you!" Tiger informed Rocky.

"I know, I felt it right before we split." Rocky replied.

"What do you mean you "split"? He is you!" Tiger questioned.

"I created a machine a long time ago, a machine that could separate two entities from each other. I knew that Gray wouldn't be able to fend off Chase, and in order for me to stay alive, I needed to separate from him." Rocky explained.

"Well, good job, but when did you leave? And how did we not notice you leaving?" Tiger questioned again.

"I left when Humdinger came. But never mind that, how are Zuma and the other pups? Are they safe?" Rocky asked.

"We have 15 minutes to find you, and we did, but how are we going to fight Chase? If Gray couldn't beat him, then how are we supposed to?" Tiger asked. Then, Tiger had an idea. "Rocky, you have some of Gray's power, right? You can fight Chase!"

Rocky shook his head. "I gave all my power to Gray, I'm powerless. But I can still fight. I made a few modifications to the living metal in me. I can fend him off while you guys take the other pups and Ryder to a safer place."

"But you'll die if you fight him alone! Especially without your powers!" Tiger shouted.

"I will fight for my friends' safety, even if it kills me." Rocky replied in a monotonous voice and left.

After leaving the pup house, Cheetah ran right up to Rocky and hugged him.

"You're alive! How?!" Cheetah questioned.

"Now's not the time! Tiger can tell you later! For now, I need you to escort the other pups to a safe place out of Adventure Bay immediately!" Rocky commanded.

"But what about you?" Cheetah asked.

"I'm going to hold Chase off." Rocky told Cheetah plainly.

"What?! Are you crazy?! You can't do that!" Cheetah complained.

"You can't stop me, I'm the only one who can even hold Chase up. Please, don't make this harder" Rocky pleaded.

"No, we won't let you." Cheetah and Tiger replied. Rocky sighed and jumped right over the two brothers.

"Ooh, that pup, how dare he! We're trying to protect him!" Tiger growled.

"Just let it go, we need to get the pups out, If we can't prevent him from fighting, then we need to do what he told us. Come on, let's get the pups and Ryder out. I'll tell Roger and you go find Ryder." Cheetah responded. Tiger huffed and nodded, running into the lookout. Cheetah ran back over to Roger and the pups, who were watching as Rocky and Chase circled each other.

"Roger, we need to get the pups out, get them onto the truck and let's book it!" Cheetah told Roger.

"What? And leave Rocky behind? Are you out of your mind?! There is no way we are leaving Rocky behind! You and Tiger need to help him!" Roger commanded.

"Rocky told us specifically to get the pups out. We won't be able to defeat Chase, so we need to get the pups to safety! I'll help Rocky as soon as you guys leave!" Cheetah replied. Roger opened his mouth, but no words came out. Roger closed it and nodded, herding the pups to his truck. Ryder was already in his bike, ready to move out. They glanced at Rocky one last time as he was already pretty battered from the fight and left.

"I see you made them move the pups out, clever pup" Chase remarked.

"I will protect my friends, even if it kills me" Rocky retorted.

"Well then, I will give you the quickest, painless death, unlike Gray's that I savored his life draining away." Chase growled and pounced.

"Rocky moved out of the way, and Chase landed on his feet, pivoted and pounced again. They both knew that none of them were going to get anywhere, but Chase was persistent and pounced over and over again. Soon, Chase got tired, and halted.

"Nice dodging, but can you dodge this?" Chase asked as he conjured up a massive energy ball. He launched it right at Rocky and Rocky dove behind his pup house. The pup house immediately exploded into pieces, leaving scraps of whatever Rocky was working on all over the place. Rocky watched in horror as his inventions were blown to pieces. Then, Rocky had an idea. He quickly jumped into his blown up pup house and opened a compartment his house. Rocky never had enough space in his pup house, so Ryder agreed that he could have a separate underground area to work on his inventions, one of which was the separator he created, and so he had Rubble dig out an area under his pup house for his new work station. It was huge, with multiple tool racks and tables surrounded by four white steel walls and a steel ceiling with a few lights hanging down from it. All the tables had something on it, a incomplete pup pack, the first models of the pup's trucks, but another section was marked off for inventions that Rocky was proud of, such as his first truck that he made from scratch, the first designed pup packs and even the first ever model of the separator.

He jumped down the hatch and quickly ran over to the separator. He thought that if it could split himself and Gray from each other, then maybe it could also split The Devil and Chase. Rocky started up the machine when suddenly Chase also jumped into the hatch. He looked around, found Rocky and charged up an energy ball. Rocky quickly jumped away from the separator, making sure that Chase wouldn't target anywhere near the machine as it booted up. Chase launched the energy ball right at Rocky who dodged it, blowing up is first model of his truck, which was huge and bulky and not at all efficient at being a truck. Rocky winced as the explosion occurred, slightly hurt that his first ever designed machine was gone forever. Chase soon charged up another energy ball and launched it at Rocky once more, blowing up other inventions such as his first pup pack and the other pup's pup packs, a few tools and tool racks, but none of the energy spheres hit the separator.

Soon enough, the separator was completely booted up, and all Rocky needed was for Chase to get into the separator. Rocky waited until Chase was starting to run out of energy so they could fight paw to paw, and that way he could maybe lure him into the separator. Since neither Chase nor The Devil had ever seen or heard about the separator, he had no idea on what the machine Rocky was starting up did. Then, Rocky had another idea. Since Chase had never seen it before, he could use that as leverage to get him to go into it.

"Finally, I can go into this enhancer and make me stronger!" Rocky shouted, cringing at what he said. Chase was completely oblivious to Rocky's plan and tried to stop Rocky from getting in. Fortunately, Chase made it hard for Rocky to get in, saving him the effort to pretend to not get into the machine. Chase slashed at Rocky, sometimes cutting Rocky on his legs, but because of his metal limbs, Rocky couldn't feel any of it. Rocky jumped back and forth, dodging Chases attack and tried to fake going towards the machine. Soon enough, the two dueling pups were right next to the separator. Rocky attempted to step into the separator, but was dragged back out by Chase.

"Oh no you won't! If anyone's going to be enhanced, it's me!" Chase screamed and jumped into the separator. He slammed the door on Rocky and looked around how to start the machine. Rocky was amazed how easily Chase was fooled to get into the separator and be separated until the machine started to sputter and blew up. Rocky was dazed. His machine had worked flawlessly before when separating him and Gray, but somehow the machine blew up. He looked at all the connections and found out in their tussle, Chase accidentally split a wire connected to the machine, causing it to malfunction. After the explosion, out came a coughing Chase.

"You made that to happen, didn't you?!" Chase hollered.

"No, It was supposed to work! Uh, I cut the wire so that you wouldn't be able to use it!" Rocky stuttered, showing him the cut wire.

"Why you little..." Chase started and punched the defenseless Rocky to the wall. Rocky coughed and blood dripped out of Rocky's mouth. Chase went up to Rocky, grabbed his neck and pinned him to the dented wall, choking Rocky.

"This is what you get for trying to kill me" Chase started until he noticed that Rocky was looking at another machine. Chase looked over to the machine that Rocky was looking at and saw the first model of the separator.

"Ah, what a nice pup, making a prototype for me to use." Chase replied.

"No, don't go in there…" Rocky coughed.

"Well now, you can't do anything, can you now?" Chase smirked and walked over to the machine, throwing Rocky to the ground. Chase walked into the machine, shut the door. After Chase slammed the door, Rocky smiled and was happy that Chase fell for his trick. All Rocky hoped was that his old separator was working. Chase flipped the lever inside the machine and Rocky watched as electricity flowed into the machine, rattling the entire machine, lighting up the entire room. The gauge on the side of the machine started to spin, notifying that the separation was happening. Rocky stood back up and pretended to stop Chase from "enhancing" himself.

"No! Stop! This machine isn't stable! Please!" Rocky shouted desperately.

"There is no stopping me! Once I get enhanced, I will be the strongest being alive! I will...wait, what's going on?!" Chase yelled. The machine had reached full potential and separation was occurring. Rocky stood outside and listened as Chase screamed inside the machine. One of the downfalls of the old machine was that it hurt whoever was inside, a flaw that was fixed in the new model. Eventually, Rocky noticed that the electricity flowing had slowed down and the shouting had stopped. Rocky waited until the lights dimmed and the gauge fell back to zero until he opened the door. There was a lot of smoke inside the machine and Rocky hoped that his machine had worked and that Chase wasn't disintegrated into a pile of ashes, which was what happened with an apple he tried on it a few months ago. The smoke cleared out and saw two pups laying on the ground, one pup was a German Shepherd, Chase, the other was a black pup, about the same size as the German Shepherd. Chase woke up, rubbing his head, groaning.

"Ohhh, my head…" Chase groaned. Rocky immediately hugged Chase, smiling.

"What happened? Am I free? What did you do Rocky?" Chase questioned.

"What did I do? I separated you from him! I did it! I can't believe it worked!" Rocky explained ecstatically.

"Wait, if you separated me from him, then that means…" Chase started.

"Well now, it looks as if I got my own form now. This machine may not have made me stronger, but this is a much better improvement!" The Devil spoke, admiring his new form.

* * *

 **So this is the final conflict that Rocky's going to encounter, therefore the next chapter will be the last. I don't know when I'll write it, but hopefully I can find some time later this weekend, no guarantees. I haven't written a story in a long time, so there may be more mistakes than usual, so tell me if there is any mistakes that I have here. Anyways, comment, grammar, thanks for reading!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Well, I finally did it, I finished this story. Anyways, there's probably a ton of predictable stuff in this chapter, but hopefully you enjoy, so here's the final chapter, chapter 14!**

* * *

Rocky and Chase circled and glared at the newly formed pitch black pup. He had no notable features other than the fact that his fur was completely black and his eyes were a deep red.

"You know, I never thought it was possible to split me from my vessel before, until now. I have to say, thank you Rocky, but now, I have no need for both of you to exist, so prepare to die!" The Devil shouted. He jumped and pounced at Rocky and Chase, both of them narrowly dodging the attack.

"Hmm, I must be getting use to my new form, I feel much more rusty than before. No matter, I can still kill you both like this!" The Devil commented.

"That was rusty? Rocky, we may have some trouble!" Chase panicked.

"Don't panic Chase, it will make the situation much worse for us. We need to get outside, come on, there's a ladder somewhere over…" Rocky called to Chase. Rocky scanned in the area of entrance in the ceiling but the ladder was nowhere to be seen. The only thing left was a few shards of metal on the floor that Rocky assumed that it was the remainders of the ladder. Rocky cursed after realizing that they had no way of escaping the lab. He started to think of other ways to exit, maybe create another ladder from his spare parts, or maybe he could jump out and find another ladder, but that means leaving Chase behind with The Devil.

"Uhh, Rocky? I suggest you start running!" Chase hollered.

"Wha?" Rocky responded, snapping back into reality from his thoughts. He saw The Devil charge up a giant dark sphere, ready to launch at them. Rocky quickly dove into action, jumping up and over to the other side of The Devil. Chase, on the other hand, was hiding behind a toppled table, hoping that whatever The Devil had conjured wouldn't be able to penetrate the solid table surface. Rocky watched as The Devil turned around and launched the ball right at Rocky. Rocky jumped once more, his paws skimmed the top of the ball, and landed right next to a giant crater that the energy sphere had created. Rocky started to panic a little, because those energy balls could absolutely demolish his entire lab and them with it, meaning he and Chase needed to get out immediately.

"Rocky, if you have any good ideas, we really could use them now!" Chase screamed over the table to Rocky.

"I'm thinking about it, I don't have any ideas yet!" Rocky screamed back. His mind was blank. None of his ideas would be able to work, he simply didn't have enough time or resources to execute anything. Rocky also couldn't focus properly as The Devil launched attack after attack at him and Chase. Then, Rocky thought about carrying Chase on him. Chase wasn't that heavy, Rocky thought, so decided to give that a try.

"Hey Chase, I have an idea on how to get out, I just hope you haven't gained weight since, I don't know, maybe from a few months ago?" Rocky asked after diving behind another table for cover.

"What? Of course I've gained weight! I'm still a growing pup, just like you!" Chase replied.

"Ah yes, growing, how could I forget that. Whatever, it doesn't matter. Chase, I want you to climb on my back. I should be able to jump out with you, I hope" Rocky commanded. Chase nodded and attempted to get over to Rocky. One of the problems about shouting your plan across the room is that the enemy can hear them discuss. The Devil switched his focus over to Chase and attacked Chase repeatedly, slowly breaking away Chase's protection. Chase had a worried look on his face, knowing that if any of the spheres hit him, then it would be over in an instant.

"Come on Chase! You've been through worse, you can do this!" Rocky encouraged. Chase gulped and ran from his cover over to Rocky with The Devil shooting ball after ball, fortunately none of them hit Chase. Chase got over to Rocky, panting hard.

"I'm never going to do that again, ever." Chase gasped.

"I agree, but first we need to get out. Quick, climb on!" Rocky told Chase. Chase

slowly climbed onto Rocky's back, gripping Rocky's sides. Rocky grunted as Chase got on. He had underestimated how much Chase had weighed and his legs were barely able to support him and Chase. Rocky stumbled around a bit, leaning from the weight, then slowly regained balance. After being able to stand still with Chase on him, Rocky tried to jump out. He went out from his cover, but realized that in his attempts at regaining his balance, The Devil was now guarding the exit.

"You thought that I would just stand over there? Of course I would try and stop you!" The Devil smirked. Rocky growled. He also hoped that he could do it fast enough that The Devil wouldn't have time to block the exit, but now things just got much harder. Rocky grunted once more and tried his best to circle The Devil, waiting for the right moment to escape. The Devil smiled evilly and conjured another ball. Rocky watched as his ball got bigger and bigger, but never throwing it at Rocky. The Devil was also waiting for Rocky to jump, neither making a move. Suddenly, The Devil launched the ball towards him and Rocky saw this coming. Rocky jumped for the exit, soaring above The Devil and landed right under the entrance and jumped up to the exit. Then, Rocky felt a shock right under him on his stomach. Rocky flinched, howled, and barely missed the edge, falling back onto the hard steel floor. The Devil had planned for Rocky to jump after his first attack and quickly charged another ball that would hit him right underneath. Rocky recovered from the blast quickly and stood back up, the pain still in his stomach. Rocky looked around for Chase, but didn't see him anywhere.

"Rocky! I'm up here, you need to get out!" Chase yelled from above. At that moment, The Devil had launched another ball at Rocky, Rocky barely dodging it, skimming his back leg. Rocky felt a jolt of pain crawling up his leg, a feeling that Rocky had never felt before. Rocky suddenly had a look of fear on his face, realizing that he could very well die if he made another slip up. The Devil noticed this and smiled. He conjured another energy weapon, this time it resembled an long shard the length of a spear. Rocky eyes grew wide and quickly stumbled to his feet. He knew that hitting him in the right spot with it would be able to do enough to hinder him from fighting back or even possibly kill him, but the living metal inside of him should be able to withstand it.

Rocky quickly jumped out of the way of his attacks, but following the one spear, The Devil had made many more at the ready to launch at him. Rocky jumped out of the way and behind a table, but the spears that came hurling towards him and pierced the table with no trouble at all. Then, Rocky finally realized what The Devil had done. He made them think that he was still adapting to his new body, when in reality he waited for Rocky to be alone to take him out with his stronger attacks.

"How do you like those? I never used them until now, and since you don't have anyone to help you, you are going to die here!" The Devil chuckled evilly.

"Those things will never kill me! It may be able to pierce the table, you won't get them anywhere near me!" Rocky hollered back. Rocky peeked over the table and saw that The Devil had conjured many of the spears and was preparing to launch all of them at the table, hoping one of them would get Rocky. Right when The Devil was about to launch the spears at Rocky, Rocky suddenly jumped out from behind the table and landed right under the exit once more. He knew that he could get out fast, but realized that he had just trapped himself. The Devil evidently had multiple spears ready to launch at the entrance and at him, meaning that unless he got lucky and his shots were aimed improperly, Rocky would be hit whether he jumped or tried anything else. Rocky cursed when suddenly he heard a voice from above.

"Ruff! Net!" Chase hollered and a net flew out of the launcher, ensnaring The Devil.

"What?!" The Devil hollered, getting knocked back by the net and losing focus to the energy spears, causing them to disappear.

"Quick! Get out!" Chase hollered down to Rocky. Rocky jumped right out of the lab, hugging Chase right after.

"What took you so long? I was almost dog food! Literally!" Rocky questioned.

"Well, It's kinda hard to get into the lookout to get my pup pack when Ryder's not here. But I realized something, When you separated me from The Devil, his powers were also split, half in me and the other half in him" Chase explained excitedly.

"Wait, so you're telling me that you have his powers?! That's so useful! I think if we use his own power against him, we can actually beat him!" Rocky exclaimed. Suddenly, they heard a deep growl from the lab and The Devil raised himself up from the entrance, holding a shredded net in his paws, throwing it down onto the ground.

"How dare you! I had him right where I wanted! Argh, you're so annoying! I think I'll kill you first!" The Devil growled.

"No you won't! I bet you couldn't even hit me!" Chase teased.

"Hey, you'd better watch your mouth if I were you!" The Devil growled back. He made a few more energy spears and launched them right at Chase. Chase gained a burst of speed, dodging every single spear. Both Rocky and The Devil gawked.

"You have powers?! More specifically, my powers?!" The Devil stated, then growled. "Just because you have my power doesn't mean you can beat me, You probably don't even know how to control it yet!"

"I may not know how to control some of your power, but I do know how to control the basics, such as lightning speed and energy spheres, after all, you did show them to me when you were controlling me" Chase replied. The Devil growled and created a massive amount of spears. The spears circled around him, all pointed towards Chase. He was about to fire them at Chase until Rocky bashed into The Devil, making him lose balance and all the spears missed their mark.

"How dare you!" The Devil shouted at Rocky and attempted to grab Rocky, but Rocky's amazing speed allowed Rocky to dodge The Devil's paws. Chase was up next, he conjured an energy ball and launched it at The Devil. The Devil was hit directly on his back while he was turned towards Rocky and immediately snapped back to see Chase. The Devil growled and pounced at Chase, knowing that his powers wouldn't do him any good against Chase. Pounce after pounce, The Devil missed and Chase was able to wear him out. Panting hard, The Devil slowly started to grimace, then started to smile, and then laughing.

"Come at me, I dare you!" he shouted at the two pups with a psychotic tone. The two pups looked at each other, confused at The Devil's sudden change. Chase responded by conjuring multiple spheres around him and launching them at The Devil. The Devil jumped out of the way of all of them, and then proceeded by tackling Chase. The two tumbled and fell onto the driveway, The Devil pinning Chase to the pavement by his throat. He conjured up a spear and was right about to stab Chase right in the heart with it until Rocky came running towards The Devil, trying to get him off of Chase. Suddenly, The Devil snapped up and looked at Rocky, smiling, and when Rocky was right next to him, kicked him, knocking onto his back and stabbed Rocky right through his back leg. Rocky felt the shock running up his leg once more and screamed. The Devil had now gotten up from the gasping Chase and right in front of the helpless Rocky.

"I finally pinned you down, I can deal with you first" The Devil spoke.

"Like I said before, you can't kill me! Anything you try won't be able to pierce my living metal!" Rocky retorted.

"I thought you were the smartest pup in the Paw Patrol. C'mon, think about it. I'll give you some time to think" The Devil sneered. Rocky was confused what he was talking about until he calmed down and thought about it. He looked back and saw his pierced leg with the black spear in it, staking him to the ground. Rocky turned around with a blank stare in his eyes, deep in thought.

"Pierced through my leg, down the center, meaning…" Rocky started and suddenly his eyes became as big as dinner plates. "No, don't do this! Chase help me!" Rocky pleaded. Chase got up from the ground groaning and saw The Devil had pinned Rocky with a spear at the ready, and Rocky having a panicked look on his face. Chase recognized what was happening and dashed over to try and save Rocky.

"Too late Chase" The Devil taunted and drove the spear right through Rocky's chest. "Haven't felt this pain in a long while, huh Rocky?" Rocky gasped as the spear drove deeper, draining the remaining life out of him.

"NO!" Chase screamed and pounced towards The Devil, but The Devil jumped back, pulling the spear out from Rocky's chest. Blood was spilling everywhere and Chase quickly tried to apply pressure to stop the bleeding, which was what Marshall told him to do if anyone was bleeding out. Chase held the wound for a while, his paws being stained by Rocky's blood. The Devil stood in the back, watching Chase clinging to his dead friend. Chase tried to find a heartbeat in Rocky, and started to tear up. He felt no heartbeat in Rocky. He had witnessed himself killing Gray, and now he witnessed The Devil killing Rocky. He let his tears spill out onto the ground, clutching the lifeless Rocky in his paws.

"Rocky…" Chase muttered.

"Don't worry, you'll be joining him soon enough!" The Devil remarked.

"No, I won't" Chase growled. "I will not die by you!" Chase shouted back, and a black aura sprouted around him. Chase's fur turned to a midnight black, eyes turning red. Chase felt a rush of energy, an energy for vengeance that enhanced his ability by tons. He slowly turned around and faced The Devil who was smiling.

"Well well, it seems you're completely shrouded by darkness. You must be pretty angry right now. But I'll have you know that I control darkness" The Devil commented.

"It doesn't matter. I will kill you for what you've done" Chase retorted.

"Now those are some bold words for a pup that can't even use his powers fully yet" The Devil teased. Chase growled and took a stance, slamming his paws into the ground. The area surrounding Chase and The Devil turned to darkness, surrounding both Chase and The Devil in black. Both Chase and The Devil were able to see clearly through the darkness, their red eyes glowing.

"My my, what a strong use of my power, I was going to use it on you, but it looks like you beat me to the chase!" The Devil complimented. Chase didn't respond and pounced towards The Devil. The Devil swiftly dodged the attack and fired a massive energy ball at Chase. Chase conjured a spear, launching it at the ball, causing both weapons to explode. The two dueling pups skidded back, then suddenly charged towards each other, creating their own weapons to clash with. The Devil created dual daggers, while Chase conjured up a massive sword. Their powers in the darkness seemed to increase significantly, and neither pup was sparing any effort to kill each other. The Devil and Chase clashed, one slashing at the other, not making any significant progress toward one side winning over the other. After a few minutes of fighting, Chase started to feel exhausted from creating mass amounts of projectiles and weapons and was starting to stumble a bit. The Devil took this moment to overpower Chase by swiping at Chase's feet, knocking him to the ground. The surrounding darkness faded back to reality, and The Devil went over to Chase with one of his daggers still intact.

"I told you, you can't beat me, I thrive in the darkness, I will always win" The Devil sneered.

"No, I won't allow that, you will never win!" Chase hollered back.

"Well now, it seems here that I've killed Gray, and your friend over there, Rocky. I'd say I've won. Heh, it's kinda sad how you thought you could get revenge, when obviously you could never beat me" The Devil replied. Chase let those words sink in. He was right, he could never beat him, he was simply not strong enough, not strong enough to protect his friends, family, not even himself. Chase changed back to his old German Shepherd look and closed his eyes, accepting his fate, knowing that he was a failure. The Devil was just about to plunge his dagger into his chest as well with a smug look on his face when, Suddenly, Chase felt time freeze, stopping The Devil right where he was. After a while of tension, Chase opened his eyes and looked around. He noticed that everything had froze in their place, The Devil's dagger almost touching his fur. Chase became very confused at what was happening.

"Is this what dying is like?" Chase asked. He stood back up and walked around, gravitating towards Rocky. He looked at Rocky's lifeless body, and began to cry once more.

"I'm sorry Rocky, I wasn't able to protect you, I'm a failure, a mess up. I couldn't even save myself" Chase whispered, crying to himself. "I hope you will forgive me in dog heaven, if I even go there after what I've done." Chase cried for a while until he had no more tears to shed. He looked back at the situation, and started to question further what was going on. Chase thought that maybe he was dead already, but then The Devil hadn't plunged the dagger into him yet. Suddenly, Chase started to get an idea. Maybe he wasn't dead, maybe he was doing this. He closed his eyes once more and concentrated on time resuming and suddenly, the flow of time continued, and The Devil stabbed his dagger into the air.

"What?! Where did you go?!" The Devil shouted and looked around, seeing Chase standing next to him. "How is this possible?!"

"Well, I may had just figured out that I am able to manipulate time and may have just moved when you were frozen" Chase explained.

"Impossible! My powers don't include anything like stopping time!" The Devil shouted.

"Then it might be a power that I always had!" Chase exclaimed. The Devil growled and pounced towards Chase, but Chase just blinked away. Chase turned up right next to The Devil and kicked him right in the side as hard as he could and The Devil went flying towards the lookout. Chase once more blinked behind The Devil and smacked him one more time, knocking him to the ground.

"This isn't funny! Come here and face me!" The Devil spoke in a panicked voice.

"Why should I? This is fun" Chase replied, laughing, and continued to beat The Devil to the ground.

"Fine, then kill me! You know that I will just go back into your body!" The Devil shouted at Chase. This made Chase stop. He knew all too well that The Devil would come back as him if he killed him. Chase realized that he really couldn't kill The Devil, he could only toy around with him. Then Chase remembered something in Rocky's stories. Rocky always had a necklace that stored his powers. Maybe he could use that to "store" The Devil when he infests his body again. He went over to Rocky's lab after freezing time once more and climbed down into the lab. He looked around the lab, scanning every object in detail. He noticed multiple blueprints of unfinished project Rocky was going to make, truck upgrades, new pup packs for future members, and improvements to the elevator. This made Chase feel bad that Rocky would never be able to finish them anymore. Then, he saw the necklace in a corner of the lab, encased in glass. He rushed towards the glass, shattered it and took the necklace out immediately. As soon as he touched the necklace, He suddenly felt himself dragged away and into another dimension that was unlike earth, a world that was pure white. In front of him, he saw a massive white dog.

"Hello there young pup!" the white figure spoke.

"Hello ma'am, who are you?" Chase asked.

"Why I'm the owner of the necklace of course! I'm wondering why you have it on you, I'm pretty sure I gave it to Rocky" the white figure responded.

"I'm sorry to say that Rocky is dead, he was killed by The Devil, and now, I'm alone to fight him" Chase answered.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but how are you going to fight him?" the figure asked.

"Well, I was hoping that this necklace would be able to contain his powers, just like it did for Gray" Chase replied.

"Like Gray huh? Well, that I can do, but you would also need to give something in return. What would you be willing to offer?" the figure responded.

"I do have some powers of my own, such as time manipulation. Would that do?" Chase wondered.

"Hmm, that would be a good payment for my service. That means that all of your powers will be stored here, including The Devil and your time manipulation powers. Do you agree to these terms?" the figure responded. Chase hesitated. He finally found something special about himself and how he was asked to give it all up. But Chase knew that if he denied the offer, he would never be able to get rid of The Devil, so he nodded.

"Good, now I need you to tell me when you want me to absorb his power, all you need to say is "Your Majesty" when you are ready" the figure informed.

"Ok I will. Wait a second, are you The Queen?" Chase asked.

"Why yes I am!" The Queen laughed, delighted.

"Then that means you're Rocky's mother!" Chase exclaimed and immediately bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you your highness!"

"Oh please, you don't have to be that formal. After all, you did help my son, and I'm very touched that you cared for my son as you did. Now go and avenge him for me!" the figure replied and faded, pulling Chase back to reality. Chase looked around, noticing that time was no longer frozen, and Chase slowly climbed out from the lab. Chase saw The Devil looking around frantically for Chase so that Chase wouldn't sneak up on him.

"Ah, there you are! And it seems you're wearing Rocky's necklace! I want that, so give it here!" The Devil told Chase after finding him walking over.

"Like I said, I will beat you, you will never win!" Chase hollered back. Chase froze time once more and ran up to The Devil, kicking and clawing at him once more. The Devil started to obtain some minor physical damage and started to show some signs of weakness.

"You're actually trying to kill me! Hah, foolish pup! You're basically giving in!" The Devil laughed.

The Devil was in major pain, scratches in his side and battered from all directions. He wanted to give Chase his last sense of major pain before going back to mentally torturing him once more and attempted to pounce on Chase, but to no avail. Chase was just too fast for The Devil. Chase needed to finish The Devil off before things got too dragged out, so Chase took a deep breath and froze time for the very last time of his life. He walked over to The Devil and conjured a energy spike with his own dark powers and stabbed it into The Devil's side. The spear stuck in The Devil's side like a pin in a pin cushion, almost piercing to the other side, just barely missing the heart.

"Like I said, you can't kill m-" The Devil started and suddenly he felt a jolt of pain in his side.

"Wow, you did it, you actually stabbed me" The Devil coughed. "Congratulations, but no matter what, I still win"

"No you won't." Chase said flatly. "Your majesty, I'm ready."

"What are you talking about?" The Devil coughed as he faded into black dust. Suddenly, a burst of light came swirling around Chase and the black particles from The Devil. The light enveloped everything, consuming the darkness and Chase, Chase feeling his own power draining, darkness and all. The light glowed brightly for a few minutes, absorbing every bit of the black dust and soon after, started to fade. Chase opened his eyes and looked down at the necklace, seeing the necklace centerpiece was now swirling with both light and dark intertwined with each other. Chase felt different, he no longer had his powers, but that didn't bother him, it was just like his old self. Then, he heard a growling behind him.

"Chase!" Cheetah shouted. "Are you back to your old self or are you still evil? You look much different!"

"Yup! I'm back to my old self, thanks to The Queen!" Chase replied happily. Cheetah, once hearing this, surrendered out of his attack position and ran over to hug Chase.

"That's great! But where's The Devil, and more importantly, where's Rocky?" Cheetah asked. After hearing about Rocky, Chase's ears drooped.

"I'm sorry, but Rocky wasn't able to survive The Devil's attacks. He ended up being stabbed in the heart" Chase told Cheetah painfully. Cheetah stared at Chase with sorrowful eyes and started to cry.

"So you're telling me that… that Rocky is gone forever?" Cheetah bawled. Chase nodded.

"But what about his living metal? It's supposed to keep him alive!" Cheetah asked.

"The Devil was able to penetrate it and stab into Rocky's heart" Chase replied blankly. The two police dogs walked over to Rocky's motionless body, and both Chase and Cheetah howled in mourn for Rocky.

"We need to let the other pups know" Cheetah spoke after a period of silence. Chase only nodded and Cheetah went off and called the other pups. Chase watched Rocky, remembering the times that he had helped him fix a multitude of items, most of it being his truck. He was about to look back at Cheetah and ask him when the Paw Patrol would be back when suddenly he noticed something. The wound in Rocky's back leg was no longer an open hole, the living metal was fully intact, the living metal had repaired itself and looked as strong as ever. The open wound on his chest was also plated with metal, as if the living metal was doing all it could to save Rocky. In fact, he could see a bit of a rise and fall from Rocky's chest! Chase quickly jumped up and ran over to Cheetah.

"Cheetah! Tell Marshall to come over, quick! There might still be a chance that Rocky could live!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Rocky found himself in a hallway of pure white. He remembered that he was stabbed by The Devil, and assumed that he was now in heaven, back home where he belonged.

"Rocky! You're here!" a familiar voice shouted at him. Rocky turned and saw a dark gray pup running towards him.

"Gray! It's nice to see you again! Is this heaven?" Rocky asked.

"Yup! You'll love it here! Come on, let's go meet our mother and then I'll show you around the palace!" Gray exclaimed ecstatically. The two pups walked up to a giant door and entered, seeing a white furred dog sitting on a cushion.

"Hello my children! Gray! Rocky! It's great to finally see you in spirit!" The Queen spoke.

"Hi mother! Rocky's here! We can be a family now!" Gray replied, bouncing up and down like a puppy. Rocky looked at The Queen with a confused expression.

"Is something bothering you?" The Queen asked Rocky.

"Well, wasn't I cursed with being reincarnated? Shouldn't I still be down there?" Rocky asked.

"Well, after seeing your fight with The Devil, I felt that you deserve something better after he killed you, especially how brave you were to sacrifice yourself for your friends, so I was able to remove your curse and be able to come here!" The Queen answered, excited.

"But mom, can I still go back?" Rocky asked. The Queen was thrown off by this question.

"What do you mean? You want to go back down to the mortal world? Wouldn't you rather stay here?" The Queen inquired.

"I mean, I do like it up here, it's just that, well, I had a loving family, something that I never had before, and I feel like leaving them in their state would, you know, be damaging and I would like to return so that they won't have that void without me" Rocky pleaded. Both The Queen and Gray smiled.

"I told you, I knew he would say that" Gray replied. "Here, this is the power that you gave me, I would like to return it" Gray continued and handed Rocky a necklace just like his old one.

"So you're saying that I can return?" Rocky asked, overjoyed.

"Yes! How could I say no? You proved to me that you really do love your family and they truly love you too. I will allow you to return to your family this one time" The Queen decided.

"Thank you!" Rocky replied, hugging The Queen. The Queen smiled and Rocky closed his eyes and spiraled back down to the world, to the Paw Patrol, to his body, to his family.

* * *

"Marshall! You came! Quick! Rocky's over here!" Chase called over to Marshall urgently.

"Woah, I didn't think it was that bad. You said he stabbed him through the heart?" Marshall asked. Chase nodded in response.

"Well I can try to heal him, but I don't know if I can heal a dead pup" Marshall commented.

"Well, he's not dead, he's clearly breathing. You have to try!" Chase urged. Marshall sighed and held up his paws like before and a green light pulsated from his paws once more. Marshall winced as he felt a twinge in his own chest, his heart and back leg throbbing from absorbing the pain, as well as the wound on Rocky's leg. Soon enough, Marshall's healing power had finished doing it's thing and both Chase, Marshall, as well as the police dogs and the Paw Patrol were watching, waiting to see if Marshall's magic had worked.

Rocky slowly opened his eyes, looking around him.

"He's alive!" everyone cheered. Chase ran up to him and gave Rocky a big hug.

"Yea, I'm alive, thanks everyone" Rocky groaned.

"Come on guys, Rocky needs to rest. I don't think dying was a pleasant experience for Rocky" Marshall ordered. The rest of the pups and dogs went over to help Rocky, carrying him into the lookout. There, they placed him into his own bed, letting him sleep for a bit. As Rocky was sleeping, Chase was tasked with the duty of keeping watch, just in case something happened to Rocky and needed immediate care. Chase lied next to Rocky in his own bed, watching Rocky take breath after breath, each breath soothing Chase more and more. Finally after three and a quarter days, Rocky woke up. Once Rocky woke up, he felt much better, but was still kind of groggy. Chase noticed that Rocky was about to wake up, as Rocky started to fidget a bit in his bed, and Chase went to the kitchen to see if Ryder could prepare a breakfast for Rocky. Soon, Chase returned with a plate on his back and found Rocky sitting up on his bed, staring out of the window.

"Good morning Rocky! I made some bacon and eggs, your favorite!" Chase exclaimed.

"Chase, that's our favorite breakfast silly!" Rocky laughed.

"Well, it still can be yours! Coffee isn't really good for you, you know" Chase laughed back.

"But it gives me energy!" Rocky complained.

"Well, for these next few days, I'm going to take care of you, and I say no coffee for you mister!" Chase exclaimed.

"Hmmf, like I care, I'll just go get some myself" Rocky murmured.

"No you won't I won't let you. Plus, I'm pretty sure Marshall tied you to your bed, knowing that you would want to leave the day you woke up" Chase told Rocky. Sure enough, there was a rope tied around Rocky's leg and the bed, pinning him to the bed.

"Argh, but it's such a pain staying in one spot! I want to work on my inventions!" Rocky complained.

"Don't worry! I'll help you pass the time. Wanna play checkers?" Chase asked.

"You know that I always beat you" Rocky answered.

"But I also know that you enjoy beating me" Chase responded playfully.

"True, I guess we could play" Rocky sighed.

"Great!" Chase replied and walked away, trying to find the checkerboard, leaving Rocky to think. He looked down and saw the necklace that stored all of his power. Rocky smiled and thought about Gray, all the times he was in his head, and now he was home with mother. As Rocky daydreamed about Gray, Chase came back with the checkers set in his mouth, struggling to get into the door, as the set was too large to fit in the doorway.

"It's stuck!" Chase mumbled as he rammed into the door multiple times.

"Have you tried turning your head?" Rocky joked.

"Oh yeah, I should probably do that" Chase laughed. Chase set the board right in front of Rocky and started to play a few matches.

"You know, the first few moves are what counts the most. Like now, I've already won" Rocky explained.

"No you haven't, all my pieces are still on the board!" Chase exclaimed.

"You'll see" Rocky replied, and sure enough, Rocky beat Chase with all his pieces remaining on the board.

"Man, you really are good!" Chase remarked.

"Well, I am the smartest!" Rocky replied in a bragging voice. "Say, you got the same necklace that I do!"

"Huh, I never noticed" Chase replied. "When did you get yours? Mine was from your lab."

"My lab? Why were you there? And why did you take it?" Rocky asked, curious.

"It's a long story, I'll tell it to you at some point. What about you?" Chase asked.

"It's a present from my mom and Gray" Rocky replied.

"Really? That's nice. Wait, does that make us BFFs?" Chase asked.

"Sure does!" Rocky responded happily. After Rocky beat Chase multiple ways at checkers, they decided to put the checkers set to the side and started to talk.

"Remember the time when you used to hate me because you couldn't catch me?" Rocky asked.

"Yea I do, it was the first job I had, and I was afraid that I would fail my first mission in the Paw Patrol!" Chase responded. "I thought that Ryder would fire me!" The two pups smiled and laughed, continued by discussing other events of the past that they found hilarious, laughing loudly and cheering up both Rocky and Chase.

"Hey, why don't you tell me what happened after The Devil killed me" Rocky asked and Chase agreed. Chase recalled the events of which he fought The Devil one on one, slightly skewing the truth so that Rocky would have a good time hearing the story. After Chase finished the story, Chase found Rocky with a look of awe in his eyes.

"You're telling me you did all that? That's amazing! I wish I could've seen you use your time freezing ability!" Rocky exclaimed. Chase smiled and then Marshall came into the lookout.

"Hey Rocky, I think it's okay for you to leave. The truth is that I didn't bind you to the bed because you were injured, it was because me, Ryder, the police dogs, and the pups were trying to plan a surprise for you, and now it's done!" Marshall explained. Rocky was confused, then was excited. The pups had never really given a surprise to Rocky before, so Rocky was jittery. Marshall untied Rocky's restraint and Rocky zoomed out into the driveway. There, all the pups and police dogs were standing outside the door, greeting Rocky. Rocky looked around and saw a shiny, well polished green truck waiting for him.

"Is this mine?! It's amazing!" Rocky exclaimed.

"Yup! We all pitched in!" Cheetah replied. "Ryder and Rubble created your truck from a few blueprints in Ryder's office and the rest of us help decorate and clean it!"

"Wait until you see the lab!" Zuma told Rocky. "We made it much bigger and cweated another exit, you know, just in case that happens again, as well as wepaiwed evewything." Rocky immediately rushed into the lab with the pups , the police dog and Ryder following him except for Chase and Roger.

"Hey Chase" Roger started.

"Yea dad?" Chase responded.

"Why didn't you tell me something was bothering you? I could've helped you deal with the pain" Roger asked.

"I don't think you could've done anything, he threatened me not to tell anyone, or else he would make me kill everyone I loved" Chase replied.

"Well, you old pap isn't as weak as you think! I'm still part of the police force, I can still fight!" Roger exclaimed jokingly.

"Yea, sure dad. I believe you" Chase laughed and pressed his muzzle into Roger's fur, hugging him. "I'm just glad I'm free now. No voice telling me what to do."

"I'm happy for you too Chase" Roger answered.

"Oh, did you tell mom?" Chase asked.

"Mom? Nah, she doesn't need to know that you were cursed by The Devil, she was almost killed by him, you know" Roger replied.

"Yea, I know, Rocky told me" Chase responded. That that moment, Roger's tag went off.

"Hello? Who is it?" Roger answered.

"Roger? Is Chase safe? I heard there was a situation from your colleagues at Adventure Bay!" Kristi hollered over Roger's collar. "You've got a lot of of explaining to do!" Roger went into the lookout, describing the situation, leaving out the detail that Chase was The Devil. Chase was left outside and Rocky and the gang was just leaving the lookout, the new exit attached to the elevator.

"That's amazing! Thanks so much! How did you finish all that?" Rocky asked.

"It's kinda surprising how much we can get done in three days" Tiger laughed.

"Man, It's almost noon, we should leave, we have work to do after all!" Tiger told the group of police pups. "Where's Roger?"

"Right here!" Roger yelled as he ran out the door. The police dogs gathered up and jumped into their own respective trucks, said their farewells and left, with the pups waving goodbye and watching them drive off into the distance, but not before Cheetah could get a picture of him and Rocky together. Soon, the pups had their lunch and played around, luckily there were no missions on that day, and so the pups decided to have a race.

"Who wants to see who's the fastest? Marshall or Chase?" Rocky told the gang.

"Of course I'm the fastest!" Chase spoke out.

"Nope, I am!" Marshall fired back. The pups laughed and prepped the two pups at one end of the driveway, and the two raced along it, but no pup cared who won, as they were all having a blast doing so. Soon, the sun was about to set, and the pups were getting tired from all the running, all except Rocky, which everyone expected. Ryder had just called them inside to sleep and the pups fell into their beds, most of them fell asleep almost immediately. Rocky and Chase watched as everyone slept, seeing how peaceful it was.

"Hey Rocky," Chase started, "is there even is a doggy heaven?"

"I can assure you that there is a place that dogs go after they die, I could probably invite you to live with me and The Queen, you can probably meet The Queen too. That way, I will never leave your side" Rocky whispered.

Rocky and Chase smiled. It was getting late, so Rocky rested his head on the pillow on his bed and Chase on Rocky's side. That night, they both dreamed about arriving at The Queen's palace, together, hand in hand, or in their case, paw in paw.

* * *

 **The End. I hope you guys enjoyed this story, sorry about the break in the middle of the story for uploading, but I hope that this story was a pleasure to read, and let me tell you, it was nice to finally put down one of my fantasies on this website. For now, I'm going to focus of my other story, and hopefully complete that one as well. I'm not sure I'm going to continue this story, but if anyone wants to use any of these ideas that I've created, then I wouldn't mind because I know of one particular person that really wants to use some of them. Anyways, comment, grammar, thanks for reading!**


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